Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

Hey guys,
I have been asked to bake a 16″ cake for a birthday, but have never baked a cake this large before! It will be a basic madeira recipe, and I would like any tips or suggestions for getting an even bake? Also how long would you expect a cake that large to bake for?

Hi Hasinatalukdar

That’s a big cake! First you haven’t said whether the cake is round or square. A square tin takes more mixture so will take longer to bake. Will a 16″ tin fit in your oven and the door close properly? Will the cake be from a scratch recipe or from cake mix? I bake 12″ round madeira for 2hrs 40 mins at 140c fan assisted oven. Depending on whether your tin is round or square I would estimate 3.5hrs to 3.45hrs on 140c fan assisted oven or 150c in a normal oven. For such a large cake I think it would be wise to use 3 or 4 metal flower nails in the batter and home made baking strips to go around the outside of the tin to ensure an even bake. Madeira cake always domes and cracks a little and is a good indicator that the cake is either baked or almost baked. This is when I check by inserting a warm metal skewer into the middle of the cake. If it comes out clean the cake is done, if there is moisture. bake on and check every 5 minutes until done. If you type in the search box ‘madeira cake’ there are 23 answers on madeira cake which may be worth looking at. You’ll need to scroll down and click on 2 at the bottom of the page to find the relevant answers. If you need more help just post again.

Hi, have you checked it will fit in your oven? My standard size domestic oven is 17″ wide but only 14″ deep. I recently had a customer who wanted a really big square cake but I persuaded her to go for a smaller size and a separate cutting cake as I didn’t want to compromise on the quality of the actual cake. Sorry that doesn’t quite answer your question but its another idea!

Thankyou guys!
It will be a round 16″ and I will be making the mixture from scratch. I have checked my oven and it will just about accommodate a 16″ tin, so I may bake a 15″ cake instead. I had read somewhere about using flowers nails, but wasn’t too sure how to use them! Thanks for the tips!

I would definitely bake it in two layers – I’ve had far too many problems trying to do larger cakes in one go, and they haven’t been as big as 15/16 inches!