Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

Looking for some advice please – when I make celebration cakes (home baker, not professional) I like to have 3 tiers high and put buttercream in one layer and jam in the other layer. To achieve this I’ve been baking 2 cakes and halving them, but then end up with one spare layer. Whilst I can freeze this (or in most cases eat it (!!)), sometimes I don’t make another cake for a while or it’s a different flavour so feels a bit of a waste. I wondered about splitting my mixture between 3 x sandwich plans – I am using Masterclass cake tins currently. I just wondered what everyone else does?

Personally I like to bake in 2″ deep sandwich tins although I do own a variety of 3″ deep pans which I’ve had for a long time. I used to do the same as you are doing now. The spare layer is handy for making a quick open gateau or as a base for trifels and cheese cakes. It can also be used with crumble mix or added to home made icecream during churning. Even with a different flavour layer, it can be used crumbled up with the filling to give extra height.
I like sharing with my neighbours or with my hobby groups and it’s well appreciated and nothing is ever wasted! Cake can be frozen for three months as long as it is well wrapped and protected from freezer burn and other food smells.

The most popular pans now tend to be the light coloured Aluminium type. The most favoured pans by a long chalk seem to be the Invictus brand because these are heavy duty and do not warp. However, there are lots of other brands to choose form which cost slightly less. If you are going to use the pans long term in business, it’s better to buy the best you can afford. Personally, I just use either my Marks and Spencer heavy duty Aluminium tins or the basic restaurant grade pans which I get from my local catering equipment supplier. I’m not in business and don’t make enough cakes to justify a major spend.

Hopefully other members will chip in with more suggestions. 🙂