Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

Hi,

I apologise if this seems like a silly question. I am struggling with many recipes to get good deep cakes.
I currently use 3″ deep Invicta cake tins. Alot of recipes use sandwich tins but as it is expensive to buy for example 3 of each size sandwich tins to get 3 layers is it possible to bake in just 1 deep tin. And if the recipe is coming out shallow could you just scale it up and bake it in 1 deep tin to get a deep cake? I’d ideally like cakes that are between 3 and 4 inches deep, is the only way to achieve this in 3 sandwich tins or is there a way i can do this in 1 or 2 deep tins?

Many thanks in advance 🙂

Hi fi28

To get a deeper cake, line the cake tin with a the parchment collar at least two inches above the rim of the tin and scale the recipe up for a four inch deep cake. The cake will rise to above the rim of the cake tin, touching the parchment collar and will dome slightly. Once cool, use the rim of the cake as a guide to slice off the dome to give a perfect three inch tall cake. For a four inch tall cake, bake up two regular three inch cakes, layer them and use the amount of layers for the required height. Any spare cake can be frozen for another project.

To scale any recipe use either my ready reckoner or the cakeometer tools here:

What Size cake tin to use

Hope this helps.

Hi madeitwithlove,

Thanks so very much to replying to my question your answer is really helpful. I’m so sorry for my late response i have been away.
I use your ready reckoner regularly and find it extremely helpful but I have only used it to scale the size eg width of the tin how would I use it to scale up depth? I haven’t found many recipes that specify how deep the cake will be so would you know how best to work it out please or is it just trial and error?
Thanks so much for all your help 🙂

Hi fi28

I’m so sorry to have delayed your answer. I’m having a terrible time accessing the internet.
I hope the following will help:

Here is an example how to scale the depth:
If the recipe makes a 3″ deep cake and you would like to scale it up to a 4″ or any size you cake, divide all the ingredients by 3 and mutiply them by the target depth which is 4 or what ever size you are scaling up to. In blog where you see the ready reckoner there is an explanation on how to increase or decrease the depth.
If you’re good with apps you could also use the cakeometer which you will find on the same blog. xx
Here’s the blog page:

What Size cake tin to use

Thank you so much madeitwithlove you have been so helpful as always. Much appreciated x

Recipe is for 2 X 8 inch sandwich tins.
If I use 1×8 inch X 3 or 4 inch deep tin what will this do to the cooking time.
Thanks

Hi jmw541

It will increase the time of baking because the volume is greater in one deep tin than in two shallow tins. The time the batter takes to cook also depends on the recipe. For example, a dense Maderia cake will take longer than a sponge cake.