I have recently got into serious baking and decorating and have gone into a shopping blitz for stuff like cake/cupcake pans, turntable, piping sets, fondant/gumpaste sets etc etc and for the moment I don’t have the budget to buy more stuff. I want to try out so many layer cake recipes but most of them call for 9*2 or 9*1 1/2 inch pans (including most of Rose’s recipes). The problem is I only have 2 8*3 inch pans for layer cakes. If I choose to bake cakes which call for 9 inch pans in my 8 inch pans, will my results be different ? How much longer should the baking time be and how should I estimate the finished height of my cakes ? BTW, I bought the 8*3 inch pans because I think that tall cakes look better but now I’m concerned about the texture since I find that most recipes call for 9 inch pans.
I have heard that TCB mentions something about using the exact pan sizes. I have recently ordered TCB but am yet to receive it. In the meantime, I want to try out a couple of cakes. Please help me as I want my results to be perfect.
I also have concerns about my oven tempeature. I use an oven thermometer but I remember having read that Rose says they are not very accurate (in my library copy of TCB) and the All Occasion Downy Yellow Cake is a very good indicator of oven temperature, but since my pan sizes vary I can’t use it to judge the accurateness of my oven. Please suggest some other way.

Sadaf - 06 February 2012 11:12 PM

I also have concerns about my oven tempeature. I use an oven thermometer but I remember having read that Rose says they are not very accurate (in my library copy of TCB) and the All Occasion Downy Yellow Cake is a very good indicator of oven temperature, but since my pan sizes vary I can’t use it to judge the accurateness of my oven. Please suggest some other way.

Maybe in RHC there’s an equivalent cake for oven temperature benchmarking purposes.

Hi, Sadaf!

Welcome! 

If your pans were 8 * 2 or 8 * 1.5, you’d be good to go, but Rose’s recipes do not work well, we are told, in 8 * 3 pans—the pans are too deep.  If you want tall cakes, you can bake 3 9” layers or, with 3 8” layers.  You cna be fairly flexible in pan sizes, to an extent, but I’d return the 3” deep for 2” deep (or even 1.5” deep) 9 or 8” pans.

Good luck, and keep us up on your baking!!

—ak

In RHC the chiffon layer is made in a 3” deep pan, and I think you might do well with Biscuit de Savoie in a 3” pan, but nearly everything else needs a shorter layer to bake well.  If a cake has enough structure to hold itself up in such a deep layer, it won’t be as tender and delicious for eating.  So, bascially, sacrificing eating quality for height.