December 14, 2011 - 2:13pm
Recipe calls for 8" cake pans - mine are 9"...what to do?
I am planning on making this recipe: (to see the recipe, search for "layered peppermint cheesecake" - it's on Southern Living - for some reason it won't let me post the link here - says it's spam, and it certainly is not)
Anyway - the recipe calls for using 8" round cake pans. My pans are 9". Since the recipe for the cake layers uses 3 pans, I sure don't want to go out and purchase THREE pans, just to make this thing. Wondering if I should modify the recipe to fit the larger pans, or just go with it as is. I'm not too worried about the cheesecake layers, as they are frozen before assembling. But the cake layers...that gives me pause.
Thoughts?
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Would you be bothered if the cakes are not quite as tall, or if you don't have the same number of layers as specified by the recipe? If not, you should be fine honoring the spirit rather than the letter of the recipe. The baking time might be different than specified, so just keep an eye on your 9'' rounds and make sure they don't over or underbake. Otherwise, your 9'' cake will be just as delicious as an 8'' one.
The number of layers are absolutely critical to the presentation of the cake (check out the recipe picture). So yes, that is important. I can't have two, rather than three, layers. What I am worried about is having 3 layers that are too thin to handle. ??
Hi Cindybakes. Is this the recipe you're talking about?
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/layered-peppermint-cheesecake-00420000008157/
Sorry, I hadn't looked at it before, so I assumed that you were going to slice each 9 inch round into layers. Seeing how the cake is assembled, the 9 inch cake pans should be fine. The difference in layer thickness won't be so extreme that you won't be able to handle them.
Yes!! I couldn't post that link here...the site would not let me (weird that it let you!!).
Thanks for your advice...think I'll go with the pans I have! :-)
If you calculate the area of a 8-inch compared to a 9-inch pan, the larger pan actually has 26% more area. I don't wish to scare off anyone with algebra, but the volume is equal to the area times the height, and the area is the radius of the pan squared times pi. If you just look at the ratio between the areas, 4 squared = 16 and 4.5 square = 20.25. 20.25/16 = 1.265, or about 26% greater (the pi s cancel each other out). Assuming you want the same cake height, then you would need to increase the recipe by about 25%. Otherwise, the thickness of each layer would be about 4/5 (16/20.25) of the original. Sorry to get so technical, but that's how I would approach it. Good luck.
-Brad
I don't care that the height of the cake matches the one in the picture...I realize that using a wider pan will produce a thinner layer. What I AM concerned about, is will the cake batter, that is intended for THREE 8in cake pans, work in 3 9in cake pans, without baking TOO thin...I don't want them to break when I assemble the cake. You really have to check the recipe to understand what I am talking about I guess.
But I am going with the advice given above - I have to bake it tonight so I have to get started!
Just make sure to support the layers as you assemble, using your hand along with a sheet pan or a flexible cutting board (or something similar). Good luck!
Where the area of a 9" pan is approx. 63.62 square inches and the area of an 8" pan is approx. 50.27 square inches, the difference amounts to approx. 21%.
If the layers are critical, increase your ingredients by 21% and go for it.
Here's what I get:
29 ounces cream cheese, softened
9 Tbsp sugar
7 ¼ tsp unsalted butter, softened
4 large eggs
3 ½ Tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 cups sour cream
2 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
3/8 teaspoon peppermint extract
3/4 cup (by volume) crushed hard peppermint candies
Sour Cream Cake Layers:
22 ounces packaged white cake mix
3 medium eggs
9 ½ ounces sour cream
3 ¼ ounces vegetable oil
White Chocolate Mousse Frosting:
3/4 cup sugar
9 ½ ounces ((by volume) white chocolate morsels
2 ½ cups whipping cream
2 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
Just thought I'd update this thread. I made the recipe with the 9" pans. The cheescake layers were fine, as they get frozen and are perfectly adequate in thickness. The cake layers were thinner than I would have liked, however, and one did crack in handling, but it didn't break completely, and with the frosting, it was fine in the end. I would have preferred the 8" pans, but given that two more of them (I have one) would have cost about $15, I think I am okay with the thinner layers. Great cake though...if anyone ever wants to try it. Yum!