Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

Hello! I’m baking my first 9×13″ sponge cake and wondered if it’s better to bake as one sponge and slice in the middle or as Mrs Jones does with her 10″ and bake two separate layers and put together? Also how long would it take to bake? Thank you so much for your advice x

Hi Jaime
If it was me I would bake two separate layers as they will bake quicker and you won’t have the worry of not managing to cut the cake straight and also a bigger cake has more chance of being soggy in the middle. Not sure of the timings offhand – approx 25 mins for a 9 x 13 slab of sponge I would imagine, happy baking x

Hi Jaime

I too would bake two separate layers, rectangular cakes can be a pain to split. The timing depends on how deep your tin is. My 9 x13 is 2″ deep and I bake my sponge for 35 – 40 minutes on 160c fan assisted oven, just check it at after 35 minutes, if it’s not done through bake on and check after 5 minutes. The done time depends very much on your own oven whether it bakes cool or hot. x

Thank you for your answers, I took your advice as was scared of cutting it and also of it over cooking on the outside and it turned out well. I checked it at 40 mins and wasn’t ready in the middle so it took just under an hour at 150c but my oven isn’t a fan oven so cooks a little slower! x