Forget about complicated baking charts! Discover the best tool you need during your baking journey - a cake pan sizes converter.
This simple calculator will help you, as a home baker, adjust different pan sizes to make your cake recipe.
Just imagine a recipe you would like to try, but you do not have the right baking cake pan size. It is one of the most common problems!
Do you feel disappointed? Should you run to a store to purchase a new pan? Or should you give up on the recipe?
Neither of both. With this baking pan conversion calculator or baking calculator, the problem will be solved forever!
And you will forget about baking pan conversion charts full of multiple numbers.
No, you do not need to measure the radius of the pan, calculate the area of the pan in square inches, the pan's volume, or the volume of batter!
What do you need to do?
Enter the shape and size of the baking pan required in the recipe and input your pan dimensions.
Then press the button "Calculate," and you will get the conversion coefficient, or the conversion factor, to calculate the ingredient quantities.
The last thing you do is multiply your cake recipe ingredients by this coefficient.
And voilà! Proceed to bake and enjoy your favorite layer cakes or sheet cakes!
Cake pan sizes converter
Notes on how to use it
- To get the most accurate dimension of a pan, measure inside pan edge to the opposite inside edge so that you do not include the thickness of the pan.
- This cake calculator considers different types of pans (round pan, square pan, loaf pan, square pan, or rectangular pan) and the surface area of baking pans. The height of the cake remains unchanged.
- For springform pans, use this tool to scale the recipe for a springform pan with another springform pan (i.e., 10-inch springform pan recipe to an 8-inch springform pan).
- Adjust the baking time as needed.
How to scale a recipe for special cake pans
The cake tin conversion calculator works for regular cake pans. But it does not work for specially designed pans such as chiffon cake pan, tube pan, bundt cake pan, and muffin pan.
The volume of the cake batter they contain is not as standard as regular round, square or rectangular pans hold.
To convert such a specific pan, use a handy infographic created by Allrecipes.
How to calculate recipe ingredients
Once you get the cake pan conversion coefficient, multiply the amount and volume of all the recipe ingredients by this number.
Use your common sense and adjust the ingredients. You will need to round up or down the resulting numbers to work with.
Most of my recipes use US measurements and the metric system. I firmly believe that baking needs precision, and weighing ingredients with a kitchen scale helps get the best results in baking.
Moreover, it might be easier to adjust ingredients using the metric system.
Let me show you an example: if you have a 9-inch cake pan and the recipe indicates a 7-inch cake pan, the conversion coefficient is 1.65.
It means that you need to multiply the ingredients by 1.65. Yes, just a little math helps here!
In this case, if the original recipe calls for 1 cup (125 g) of all-purpose flour, multiplied by 1.65 makes 1.65 cups (206 g) of flour.
Using the Ingredients Conversion Tool, you will need 1 ½ cup plus 2.37 tablespoons of flour. However, it seems that measuring 206 g of flour is easier.
Let's say that you calculated all the ingredients, but whole eggs. What if you need some part of the egg?
A good technique is to beat the egg and use whatever part of an egg mixture you need.
To be precise, weigh the beaten egg on a scale and measure how much you need.
How to adjust baking time for different size pans
There are no formulas on how to adjust the baking time once you use a different pan size.
If you double ingredients, it does not mean that your cake requires a longer bake time, and you need to double it. It does not work this way.
The baking time remains the same in most cases since the cake converter does not change the cake's height.
The baking time may be a bit longer if you make the cake larger than the original recipe.
If you make a smaller cake, it is a good idea to check the cake's readiness before the original baking time.
And don't forget about the general rule of thumb: you don't change the oven temperature recommended in the recipe.
But there is one exclusion: if you substitute your molds with the glass pans, reduce the baking temperature by 25 degrees F and bake up to 10 minutes longer.
How to test cake doneness
As per Kitchn, there are five ways to tell when a cake is done. One of the easiest methods is to use your preferred cake tester.
It is a metal cake tester, a thin, sharp knife, a skinny bamboo skewer, or a wooden toothpick. According to FOOD52, "the toothpicks are the best cake testers."
Just remember that various types of cakes have different kinds of readiness.
For example, while testing French Chocolate Cake, you will want the tester to come out of the center of the cake with some streaks of batter or crumbs that stick to a toothpick since the cake is moist.
Three Ingredient Italian Sponge Cake is ready when the tester comes out dry.
Mast-have baking pans
As a sequel to my freebie Baking Essentials Checklist, today there's been no better time than now to show off all the baking pans I use while baking and which ones are my favorite.
Here are my top 9 baking pans, most with nonstick coating - all you will ever need for any recipe situation:
- Calphalon Rimmed baking sheet
- USA pan bakeware rectangular cake pan
- Fat Daddio square cake pan
- Nordic Ware round cake pan
- Le Creuset springform round cake pan
- 12-count Wilton muffin pan
- 24-count Wilton mini muffin pan
- Rachael Ray nonstick loaf pan
- Wilton fluted tart pan
Check out my favorite cake recipes
Browse all the Cake Recipes
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I hope you will return to this post next time you need some adjustments with your baking pans. Happy baking, and enjoy!