Kitchen Hacks

How to Use One Cake Pan For Any Baking Recipe

With a little math, you can adapt any baking recipe to work with what you've got.

by: Alice Medrich

May 6, 2021

Lemony Madeira cake on a plate, waiting to be eaten.

Photo by Rocky Luten

Award-winning cookbook author Alice Medrich is here to help you bake smarter, not harder, with game-changing recipes and aha-moment techniques. Today, we're breaking down a question we've asked ourselves, oh, a million times: How do we adapt cake pan sizes in baking recipes? (Say, something calls for a 8x8-inch, but you only have an 9x9.) Alice will show you with just a little math.

The brownie recipe you want to make calls for an 8-inch square pan, but your only square pan is a 9-inch. Should you risk it? Maybe you want to double or triple a recipe but you aren’t sure which pan to use, or maybe you have a specific large pan but don’t know how many times to multiply your recipe in order to fill it.

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How do you adapt different cake pan sizes for different recipes?

The answers to these and similar questions (asked endlessly in cooking classes!) do not involve rocket science, but just enough elementary school math to calculate the area of a square, rectangle, or circle. I love the math (and I’ve included a little math review below if you want to brush up), but I’m sharing my chart in case you don’t have my thing for math.

The handy list below (or some basic math, also explained below) will tell you the surface area of your pan. Once you know the area of any pan, you can compare it to the area of another pan to see how much bigger or smaller it is. You can divide the area of a large pan by the area of a small pan to figure out how many times to multiply a recipe to fill the larger pan with the same depth of batter (more on that later).

Handy list (with the numbers rounded up to the nearest inch):

Area of square/rectangle pans:

6 x 6 = 36 square inches
7 x 7 = 49 square inches
8 x 8 = 64 square inches
9 x 9 = 81 square inches
9 x 13 = 117 square inches
12 x 16 (half-sheet pan) = 192 square inches

Area of round pans:

Geometry review:

I don’t always have the chart at hand; I often just do the math!

For squares and rectangles: The area of a square or rectangular pan is calculated by multiplying one side times the other side. The area of an 8-inch square is 64 square inches because 8 x 8 = 64; the area of a 9 x 13-inch pan is 117 square inches because 9 x 13 = 117. Easy.

For rounds: The area of a circle equals π times the radius squared. In case you don’t remember, π = 3.14; the radius of a circle is half of its diameter; and squaring means multiplying a number by itself. Ready? To calculate the area of an 8-inch round pan, multiply 3.14 (π) by 4 (because it’s half of 8) times 4. Thus, the area of an 8-inch circle is 3.14 x 4 x 4, approximately 50 square inches. Not so hard!

Just by glancing at the two pans, you might think that a 9-inch pan is very close in size to an 8-inch pan of the same shape, thus making it a reasonable substitute. But if you check the chart, you’ll find that a 9-inch square pan is more than 25% larger than an 8-inch square pan. (The relationship between a 9-inch and 8-inch round pan is similar.) Such a considerable difference will result in a 9-inch batch of very thin brownies that may be over-baked by the time you check them for doneness (because thin brownies bake faster than thick ones). Knowing this beforehand, you can increase the recipe by 25% for results as thick than the original recipe intended. If you want brownies that are even a tad thicker than the original recipe, you can even increase the recipe by 33%.

Let's try an example: How many times should you multiply an 8-inch brownie recipe to fill a 9- x 13-inch pan or a 12- x 16-inch half sheet? To figure this out, divide the area of the larger pan by the area of the 8-inch pan.

For the 9- x 13-inch pan: 117 divided by 64 = 1.82, which is close enough to 2 that you can confidently double the recipe for the larger pan.
For the half sheet: 192 divided by 64 is exactly 3, so you can multiply the recipe times 3.

Using similar math, you can calculate how many times to multiply the recipe for a round cake to make a large rectangular sheet cake. And don’t forget that you don’t always have to multiply recipes by whole numbers—it’s perfectly fine to multiply a recipe by 1 1/2 or 2 2/3.

About now, you might be wondering about eggs. It’s nice if you can increase recipes so that you don’t have to deal with fractions of eggs—by increasing a 2-egg batter by 1 1/2 or a 3-egg batter by 1/3 or 2/3, for example—but it is not essential.

Here’s what to do if you multiply a recipe and end up needing part of an egg: Set aside any whole eggs you need. Next, whisk the other egg to blend the white and yolk; weigh it (preferably in grams); then weigh out the fraction of the egg that you need for the recipe and add that to the whole eggs. If you need 40% of a 50-gram egg, that’s 20 grams of the whisked egg. When egg whites and yolks are used separately, weigh and measure them in the same way, but separately. Add leftover egg parts to your morning scramble. See, no waste and still no rocket science!

The chart (or your ability to do the math) is extremely valuable: Use it but don’t be a slave to it. When I make brownies in a large quantity, I like them to be about the same thickness as they are in a small batch, so I stay close to the chart. But, when I increase the dimensions of a birthday cake, I often make it a bit taller than the original (in other words, I round up when multiplying) because the proportions are visually more pleasing. For example, if I am making a 12-inch round cake using a recipe meant for an 8-inch pan, I divide the area of the 12-inch round pan (113) by the area of the 8-inch round (50 inches) and get 2.26. But instead of multiplying the recipe by just 2.26, I might multiply it by 3 so that the cake will turn out tall and lofty. See: Love the chart, but don’t let it bully you!

When you round things up like that, don’t go overboard: Pans should not be filled more than about 2/3 full or batter may overflow. If you do end up with too much batter, scrape the excess into cupcake molds or a mini cake pan—bonus cakes never go uneaten!

When you increase recipes and bake in larger pans, you should anticipate longer baking—anywhere from a little longer if the pans are filled to the same level as the original recipe to considerably longer if you are making the cake taller by filling the pan a bit more. If you are making a smaller amount of the recipe, check earlier than you think you need. And always use a cake tester to check to see if the cake is finished.

Here are 10 baking recipes to put your newfound knowledge to good use:

1. Triple-Chocolate Olive Oil Brownies

Bittersweet chocolate, chocolate syrup, and Dutch-process cocoa powder make these brownies as chocolatey as can be. We love the olive oil's grassy flavor, but feel free to swap in canola if you're not a fan.

2. Cook's Illustrated's Blondies

Meet the blondie recipe that will ruin you for all others. Don't say we didn't warn you! Made with melted butter, they're just as gooey and fudgy as a blondie should be.

3. Peanut Butter Sheet Cake

"Bake this peanut butter sheet cake for birthday parties, celebrations, or just because," writes recipe developer EmilyC. "It's so easy to assemble, feeds a crowd, and will put a smile on everyone's face."

4. Magic Cookie Bars

When we say magic, we mean it. These classic cookie bars include graham cracker crumbs, sweetened condensed milk, semisweet chocolate chips, toasted nuts, shredded coconut, and coconut flakes. Oh, and butter, because of course.

5. Lemon Bars With a Salty Olive Oil Crust

While most lemon bar crusts are butter-based, like a classic shortbread, this one opts for a modern upgrade: olive oil instead. A generous pinch of salt brings out the olive oil's savoriness in a way the lemons really love. Serve extra-cold with confectioners' sugar dusted on top.

Additional ideas from the editors:

6. Minnie Utsey's No-Fail Cornbread

This recipe is exactly as its name promises: no-fail. For that reason, I come back to it time and time again anytime a cornbread craving hits. Scale it up or down as needed, but I guarantee there will be none left over.

7. Mochi Banana Bread

"What happens to classic banana bread when you swap in sweet rice flour?" asks recipe developer Joy Cho. "The result is neither wholly mochi nor traditional banana bread—it’s a lovely in-between, decidedly familiar with a fun textural twist." Glutinous rice flour brings mochi’s signature chewy texture to the world of banana bread. Even better: it requires only about half the time in the oven as a typical banana bread would.

8. Powdered Donut Cake

This brilliant dessert mashup comes from Snacking Cakes (the book, but also the concept) queen, Yossy Arefi. It’s light and fluffy with all the powdered sugar goodness of your favorite childhood donut holes. The best part? Arefi encourages experimentation and even provides suggested measurements for various pan sizes.

9. Madeira Cake

This simple European cake is so much more delicious than the sum of its parts. Light sponge flavored with just a hint of citrus, this cake is the perfect accompaniment to a cup of coffee or tea, or even fortified wine (just like its name implies!)

10. Chocolate Cake With Peanut Butter Frosting & Salty Peanuts

For the chocolate-peanut butter lovers in your life. This may just be their dream birthday cake, and now you can easily scale it to accommodate any number of guests.

This article was originally published in June 2015. We refreshed it for this summer, because we're very, very excited about our summer dessert to-do list. What are your tricks for adapting recipes to different pan sizes? Tell us in the comments!

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Mireille Delisle-Oldham

My career was sparked by a single bite of a chocolate truffle, made by my Paris landlady in 1972. I returned home to open this country’s first chocolate bakery and dessert shop, Cocolat, and I am often “blamed” for introducing chocolate truffles to America. Today I am the James Beard Foundation and IACP award-winning author of ten cookbooks, teach a chocolate dessert class on Craftsy.com, and work with some of the world’s best chocolate companies. In 2018, I won the IACP Award for Best Food-Focused Column (this one!).

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262 Comments

Nikki August 14, 2022

Perhaps I missed it, but I don’t see where you’ve discuss if and how the depth of the pan impacts the math mathematical calculations. A 9x1 inch round pan has a smaller volume than a 9x3 inch pan.

Smaug August 14, 2022

The general rule is to keep the depth the same (or as close as you can- baking isn't really as precise a process as it's often painted), as that's the primary factor in how it cooks. It's best to avoid big changes in depth of the pan, mostly because a cake designed for a 1" deep pan will not heat the same from the top in a 3" deep pan.

Nikki August 15, 2022

Smaug, thank you for a response, but your answer hasn’t really addressed my question.

I just would like to know whether the square area measurements provided in this blog, will be affected by the depth of the pan. Are the measurements based on pans that are 1 inch, 1.5 inches, 2 inches
depth?

I need to modify a recipe to accommodate a pan that is the same in depth as the original recipe (2 inches), but a different shape, larger surface area and larger volume as well. My pan size is not listed in the chart provided.

Smaug August 15, 2022

You need to calculate the surface area of the pans, which is generally very simple; not going to reread this ancient article, but I assume they give the basics- for a rectangular pan the area is the product of the lengths of the sides; for a round pan it is the radius (1/2 the diameter) squared, times pi. If calculating the area is a problem, you could measure the volume of water to fill the pan to the desired depth. And no, the depth will not affect the square area measurement- you only need to compare square areas because the depths are the same, which is why I brought that up.

Smaug August 15, 2022

ps- pi= 3.14 (close enough- actually 3.14159265358979... and on forever)

Nikki August 15, 2022

Great.

Smaug, I appreciate the quick and very helpful response. If the depths between pans were to be different, what additional calculations, if any, would be required?

Nikki August 15, 2022

…And I love math, so calculations are no issue.

Smaug August 15, 2022

Um- this is getting hard to do without a lengthy treatise; if the depths of the pans are different but you're filling them to the same depth you needn't worry about it, except that if your pan is excessively deep the top may not brown as it otherwise would. If you're filling them to different depths, it will have a considerable effect on the whole baking process; the whole timing and possibly temperature would need adjusting, and I don't think there's any simple formula for it, you'd just have to experiment and do a lot of doneness testing.

Nikki August 19, 2022

Thanks

Byron February 21, 2022

This is information I have needed. I’ve been winging it for so long and usually with disappointing results. So, thank you for this! I feel as though I just received a free class in pastry!

Max S. November 2, 2021

Math and I don’t get along. Based on this article, to scale down to an 8” square pan from a 9” x 13” pan, I’d halve the recipe, and for a half-sheet, I should divide the recipe by 3 — right?

Kim September 19, 2021

Hi Alice
I would like to serve a tiramisu in a 4"×4" glass baking dish. What would be the math for that please?

Mireille D. July 30, 2021

I am very confused - in the chart the 8x8 pan = 64 sq. inch, and the 9" round pan also = 64 sq. inch, yet in the text it says that they are different (by 25%)... Not sure what to do here...

Smaug July 30, 2021

A 9" ROUND pan is about 64 in.sq., a 9"SQUARE pan is 81 in.sq., about 1 1/4 times the 8".

Mireille D. July 30, 2021

I agree with you. I mis-read the article. Is there a way to remove my comment?

Smaug July 30, 2021

Don't think so, this site has never had any sort of edit function.

Amanda July 12, 2021

It would be great to have this information available in a format for quick reference, which could be bookmarked or printed off. Would that be possible? I’d personally love to have a paper copy by my baking books :)

cmarineau May 16, 2021

So if I wanted to bake a cake in my 10 inch round pan instead of two 8 inch round pans would I divide the are of the 10" pan by the total area of the 8" pans (79 sq.in./100 sq.in.)? that would mean I am actually reducing the recipe by ~.75. the math works but I'm doing a gluten free cake recipe for the first time and am nervous.

cmarineau May 16, 2021

this is also a 3 inch tall 10 inch round.

Don B. May 16, 2021

you have the right idea, and you've done the area calculations right (79 sq in and 100 sq in). However, you say you're reducing the recipe by 75%, where actually you're reducing the batter needed by ~21%, not 75%. That is, you need about 79% of the batter you would need when using 2 8" pans.

cmarineau May 16, 2021

once I started doing the math I figured out it was that the area was 79%. I appreciate the confirmation that I was doing it right. I also found out my pan is actually a 9"x2.5"round so I went and borrowed my Mom's 8" pans. I did find out, volume-wise, a 10"x 3" round pan holds the same volume as (2) 8" rounds. So I could, I believe do this recipe without conversion, just temp. and time adjustment, then cut my layers out of one pan. Thank you for the quick reply.

Smaug May 16, 2021

To compare round pans, you don't really need to calculate area; you just need the proportion, so you simply need the ratio of the diameter squared (or the radius squared if the arithmetic works out easier). So the ratio of the area of a 10" round pan to an 8" would be 100/64.

Don B. May 17, 2021

True, but her original post said she had 2 8” pans.

Smaug May 17, 2021

Yeah, I thought she could probably handle the additional arithmetic on her own.

mary February 11, 2021

Can I bake a flourless 9” round cake in 2 6” round pans. Thank you

AceyKay January 8, 2021

Hi. All your neat conversions involve open pans. What about muffin pans? I have a recipe for a bread that goes into muffin pans. I don't have them out of storage yet. The recipe makes 12 rolls. How would we extrapolate that out into a round or square pan?

Smaug January 9, 2021

Really hard to say with bread; there's no obvious way to compare volumes. I'd go with filling the muffin cups halfway or so. Hopefully it would rise about to the top of the cup, and then grow above in the oven. It should be a lot easier to figure the next time (or you could experiment with part of the dough). This is one of those situations where there's no real substitute for experience

gtapper January 8, 2021

Hi there, if I want to make a four layer 6-inch round cake but the recipe is for three 8-inch round pans, how would I adjust the recipe?

Smaug January 8, 2021

You would want 36/64x(4/3)=144/192=3/4 of the original recipe, for layeers the same thickness.

Diane M. December 8, 2020

What do you do if you only have a 8x8 and recipe calls for a 9x9?

Smaug December 8, 2020

Make 3/4 of the recipe (or 79% if you feel like doing the arithmetic).

karin.anderson.52 December 1, 2020

Or simply use “Keiko’s Cakes” interactive pan conversion tool. Enter your pan size and the desired size and find the factor by which to multiply your recipe amounts. You can also convert between rectangular and round pan shapes. Very easy! https://keikos-cake.com/panconversion.html

Jen A. November 24, 2020

I need help. My recipe calls for an 8x8 but I only have 8inch! What should I do? Just increase the baking time? Of leave some batter out?

Michelle D. November 21, 2020

I have a cake recipe that is calling for 3 8inch pans. I only have two 9 inch pans. Can I still make the receipt it the 2 9 inch pans.

Don B. November 21, 2020

of course. 8^2 = 64 square inches per layer, and 9^2 = 81 square inches per layer (for square pans). if your desire is to have a 3-layer cake, one option is to use the 9" pans to make 2 layers, then re-use one of the pans to make a third layer. if you use the same amount of batter, the layers will be 18.5% thinner in your 9" pans (e.g., 2.5" thick in the 9" pans vs 3" thick in the 8" pans). there are, of course, other options (e.g., making a 2-layer cake or using more batter).

ANIRUDDHA R. November 4, 2020

Alice,

For your example: How many times should you multiply an 8-inch brownie recipe to fill a 9- x 13-inch pan or a 12- x 16-inch half sheet? To figure this out, divide the area of the larger pan by the area of the 8-inch pan.

For the 9- x 13-inch pan: 117 divided by 64 = 1.82, which is close enough to 2 that you can confidently double the recipe for the larger pan.
For the half sheet: 192 divided by 64 is exactly 3, so you can multiply the recipe times 3.
But the area of the 8 inch pan is 50, not 64. So you need to divide 117 by 50 and not 64. Same applies to the half sheet pan. Please make that correction.

Thanks and Regards,
Ani

Pamela_in_Tokyo December 18, 2020

I’m sorry, but I was wondering about your comment..... the area of an 8 x 8 square pan is 64 not 50 as you state. How did you get “50”?? Are you perhaps thinking of a different sized pan?? A 7 x 7 pan is 49....

Shu October 23, 2020

Most recipes seem to be for 8", 9" or the 9x13 pans. So, I did the conversions for the pans I own.
Note the conversions are rounded off to the nearest multiple of 5.

So if I want to scale a 9x9 square pan recipe to my 8x8 square pan, I'll just use 80% of the 9x9 recipe.
Eg: 100g of flour will be 80g of flour.
Calculator entry: '100' x '0.8' = 80.

Hope this helps someone out there.

Area of square/rectangle pans:
* 7 x 7 = 49 square inches = Same as 8” round
* (75% of 8” square)
* (60% of 9” square)
* (40% of 9 x 13)
* f**k it. Just half either 9” sq or 9 x 13 recipe
* 8 x 8 = 64 square inches = Same as 9” round
* (80% of 9” square)
* (50% of 9 x 13)
* 9 x 9 = 81 square inches
* (125% of 8” square)
* (70% of 9 x 13)
* 9 x 13 = 117 square inches
* (180% of 8” square)
* f**k it. Just double a 8” sq
* (140% of 9” square)
* f**k it. Just x1.5 a 9” sq

Area of round pans:
* 4 inch = 13 square inches
* (20% of 9” round)
* (25% of 8” round)
* 6 inch = 29 square inches
* (45% of 9” round)
* (60% of 8” round)
* f**k it. Just half either 8” or 9” round
* 8 inch = 50 square inches = Same as 7” square
* (75% of 9” round)
* 9 inch = 64 square inches = Same as 8” square
* (125% of 8” round)

Jmnewman2 June 21, 2020

I am trying to Convert a brownie recipe that is for an 8x8 pan up to a 13x18 pan and it works out to be 3.65 times bigger so would I just times the original recipe by 4 or would I have to go 3.65 times bigger? I can easily multiply all the ingredients by 3.65 except the eggs since im pretty sure it will be next to impossible to use 7.3 eggs and 3.65 yolks🤣. Thanks!!

Don B. June 21, 2020

the easy way would be to multiply the entire recipe by 4 and then just use 90% of it (giving a factor of 3.6). but my guess is that you could use the entire 4X of the batter, which would make just make the batter a little (about 9%) deeper and the brownies that much thicker. then just bake it a little longer. (start checking at your usual time.)

Anna G. May 12, 2020

Thank you for this helpful guideline! I pretty much understand how to adjust a recipe now (I think) but what about for let’s say, a recipe I’m following uses a 3 layer 6” round cake pan, and I’ll be using a 2 layer 8” round cake pan. (Both have the same 2” depth)
So first, Following your chart, i’ll divide 50 by 29 = 1.7 as the multiplier. (270g flour x 1.7 = 459g)
But that would amount to a 3 layered 8” pan... what about the 1 extra cake layer that i don’t want, how exactly do i subtract that?
Sorry for All my basic math skills have basically flown out the window...

Anna G. May 12, 2020

I’m not sure if anyone would follow but if my previous calculation was correct, i now have 459g of flour for a 3 layer 8” round cake pan.
If i want to make just 2 layers instead of 3, I’ll divide 459g by 3 = 153g approx. for 1 pan. 153 x 2 = 306g of flour for 2 layers/pans
Can anyone tell me if this is correct?

Pamela_in_Tokyo December 18, 2020

First calculate how much batter for all three 6 inch pans, then see if that will fit into your two 8 inch pans.

I did this calculation. Does this make sense??

6 in round = 29 square inches x 3 = 87 square inches

8 in round = 50 square inches x 2 = 100 square inches

The batter for the three 6 round inch pans = 87 square inches
The batter for the two 8 square pans = 100 square inches

100 minus 87 = 13 square inches

So the batter for a three layer cake to be baked in 6 inch round pans can be baked in two 8 inch round pans but the layers would be a little thinner.

ebraxy May 2, 2020

Thank you for writing this out, but it seems like you left off in the middle. I'm sorry I don't remember my basic math. I want to scale down from 8" round to 6" round. Using what you have shown I end up with a difference of 1.79. Where do I go from there to take 480g of flour to a 6" round. Thanks

Smaug May 2, 2020

Actually, you want the reciprocal of that; 6sq./8sq.=.56, .56x480=270g.

Don B. May 2, 2020

yes, the difference in volume (assuming equal depth of batter) is the ratio of 1.78 (8^s / 6^2). so simply divide the 480g of flour used for the 8" round by 1.78. you get approximately 271g of flour for the 6" round. now, dividing eggs by 1.78 is a little trickier :)

mompants April 11, 2020

This is brilliant, thank you so much for this! I never would have guessed that a 9” round is so much smaller (in capacity) than a 9x9” square.
Thank you for saving my Easter bunz!

mudd February 10, 2020

Easy way to consider this issue-surface area only. But need to also consider capacity/volume. Eg recipe calls for 8x8x2 in high. You have 8x8x1 in high. Surface are of both is exactly the same-64 in-but capacity/volume is very different. Volume of 8x8x1 is 64 sq in, 8x8x2 is 128 sq in!

Smaug February 10, 2020

Not really very relevant. If you're making soup or jello you can size your container by volume (to some extent) but in a baking recipe changing the depth significantly will have a huge effect both on the baking characteristics and the finished quality of the dish- it's generally to be avoided when adapting recipes.

mudd February 10, 2020

That’s just what I’m trying to point out. Volume of pan can make a huge difference in baking!

Smaug February 10, 2020

Then I'm not sure of the point of your post. If you're adapting a recipe, the depth of your pan should be similar to that of the original recipe, there's no real point in factoring in volume. It can be deeper, to some extent, but a too deep pan can slow down heat absorption from the top which may or may not be acceptable, and can also make it difficult to remove some things without damage; best to stay away from it. If you want to halve a recipe for a 1" deep pan you need a 1" deep pan, or close to it, with about half the surface area.

mudd February 11, 2020

I’m trying to respond to some of the previous commenters/questioners below is all.

Katherine F. January 26, 2020

I'm very new to baking, so this may be a no-brainer question, but i did the math and the difference between a 9 and 9.5 in tart pan is 1.1. Do i really need to increase the ingredients by .1%? I know you have to be pretty darn exact with baking..

Smaug January 26, 2020

Actually, the difference is 11.4%- you can usually get away with ignoring it, but your filling may come out a bit thin. The need for exactitude in baking is greatly overstated- there are some things, such as fat to flour or liquid to flour ratios- where small changes can make a big difference (not necessarily a bad thing), but a lot of it is pretty wide open to variation.

Don B. January 26, 2020

The ratio of the area of the two pans is the square of (9.5/9), or 1.114. This means the difference is .114 (1.114-1) or 11.4%, so you need to increase your ingredients by about 11%, not 0.1%.

Linda December 26, 2019

Would you post a chart like you showed for baking pans, for cheesecake pans?
Recipe calls for one size and maybe you don’t have the same size or you want to create your own cheesecake but not sure how much of each ingredient you’d need.

Bala R. December 19, 2019

Such an interesting post!!! Loved the Math u have explained.. U have made it easier now..I have one small doubt.. For a round pan, the radius is alone taken into account for the calculation.. What if the pan's height varies?!! Assuming my pan is taller, the amount of batter gets in will be more than a shorter pan right?!! So how do you incorporate the pan's height?!!!

Waiting for your response. Thanks in Advance 😊

Smaug December 19, 2019

When adapting a recipe, particularly cakes and pies, the baking characteristics are largely dictated by the depth as that determines the time needed for heat to penetrate to the center as well as the weight (particularly for cakes) that the structure should support. Therefore, every effort should be made to maintain the depth of the original recipe. Thus, for 1/2 the recipe you need 1/2 the surface area. Of course this seldom works out exactly with the pans you have but if it's not close the recipe will need considerable adaptation and may fail. Cooking a shallow cake in a deep pan will interfere somewhat with heat circulation to the top and is to be avoided if possible, but it's seldom disastrous and is often the only real alternative.

Rosalind P. January 2, 2020

yeah -- it's very frustrating. I have more pans that any sane home baker should have, especially for a New York-sized kitchen, yet I'm always running across recipes for a size I don't have. The most frustrating is for the different depths: 2 inch or even three inch.

mudd February 10, 2020

See my above response. Multiply area by height!

Bala R. February 10, 2020

Thank you for the response.. Baking is more of the Math.. isn't?!!

Smaug February 10, 2020

Well, there's a certain amount of simple arithmetic involved in multiplying or dividing recipes, and if you're developing recipes you will be working with some basic ratios, such as fat to flour or liquid to powdered ingredients. Things with a lot of chemistry behind them, such as ice cream, will have more such ratios, but if you've mastered long division youshould have no problem with the arithmetic. Of course it's all "word problems"- you have to understand the processes to know what calculations to make.

Diana S. September 26, 2019

I have found that, if you are starting your cake with a boxed mix, a full-sized sheet cake pan of approximately 18x26 will easily handle four boxed mixes.....just don’t add a lot of extras. I do this for poke cakes, Texas sheet cakes, blueberry coffee cake. Works great!

Bala R. February 10, 2020

I hear u!!! Same here!!!

Bala R. February 10, 2020

Am sorry.. wrongly replied to your message...

AnneB September 15, 2019

This "simple" math made my head hurt. I didn't make it half way before I started feeling so stupid that I gave up. Too hard. :-(

Sharon I. September 10, 2019

Thanks, Don! I know I can figure this out -- you and Alice give me all the confidence I need!

Janet M. August 4, 2019

Problems like these conversions make me so happy I learned basic arithmetic in grade school--these are exactly like word problems I struggled through--and mastered--in 6th grade back in the mid-1950s. My problem before this article was that I was mostly thinking in terms of volume instead of surface area.

Cheryl S. June 28, 2019

Had a great time nerding out with this piece. Quants rule!!

Smaug June 27, 2019

A lot of times, you don't actually need to calculate areas, if you're comparing pans of the same shape. For instance, if you want to compare the area of a 9" round pan and an 8" round pan, it's a simple proportion of 9squared/8squared, or 81/64- 1 1/4 is close enough for baking. Since to calculate the area you're multiplying the diameter by pi/4 in both the numerator and denominator, they cancel each other out.

GBChelle May 25, 2019

Hi! I found Ina Garten’s recipe for brownies that makes a sheetpan (12x18). But I love my brownies thick. Do you think it would work to make them in a 9x13 pan and just bake them longer? Or will that just be too much batter and the weight of all of that better would cause them to sink in the middle and not cook properly?

Sara May 3, 2019

Hello,
This post is extremely helpful. Especially the chart. However, I’m having some uncertainty with scaling down, which seems to be what I need to do based on the volumes. I’m trying to determine how to scale the recipe/ingredients of three 8” rounds to one 9x13. Please help!
Thank you!
Sara

Don B. May 4, 2019

simple question, but it can be a little tricky. your original recipe for three 8" rounds has a surface area of about 151 square inches, whereas your 9"x13" pan has a surface area of 117 square inches. therefore, to fill your rectangular pan to the same depth as the three round pans, you'll need about 22% less batter (that's (151-117)/151 = .22 ). so, for example, if your recipe calls for 5 cups of flour, you'll actually need about 3.9 cups of flour.

Sara May 4, 2019

Oh boy, that’s a bit tricky. Thank you very much for the reply.

Sara May 4, 2019

I actually just thought of a clever solution! Make the recipe as is, weigh the finished batter, and remove about 1/4 (or as close to 22% I can get) of it, and use that for a few cupcakes. You’re reply was very helpful. Now I truly understand how to scale a recipe down with your example and calculations. Thank you again!

Don B. May 4, 2019

great idea. let me know when I can come over for a cupcake :)

Rosalind P. February 10, 2020

or make the recipe as is and use the leftover batter for cupcakes

Rosalind P. February 10, 2020

oops. too hasty. cupcake suggestion already made. sorry

Lorie P. April 30, 2019

So I did the conversion also using another method and using this method and another method my answer comes to roughly 1.8, my question is, is this the same factor you use if using multiple Cake layers? Recipe I’m using calls for 6, 6 inch rounds however I’m using 6, 8 inch rounds?

Don B. April 30, 2019

Yup. going from a 6" round to an 8" round of the same depth means you need to multiply your recipe by 1.8, which is (8/6)^2 .

Lolly April 17, 2019

Hi

I just found the most perfect cake recipe which may sound strange to most people but I am allergic to eggs, milk and have celiacs disease so cannot have wheat either. I haven’t had cake for a lot of years now well not without being ill :-/ The recipe I found is the first one to not have odd stuff in like a lot have chickpea flour which does not appeal to me and other various odd things.... whole other story... Anyhoo the recipe calls for a 9 inch round cake tin and says cook for 30-35 mins. I only have 8 inch cake tins which I do love and I have had a go at using which it looked absolutely perfect consistency when I was putting into the tins before it went into the oven.... I checked at 35 mins (not thinking of the relevance of the size) and it looked pretty good but wasn’t done (so gave another 5 and checked then another 5) looked really good and squewer came out clean... obviously out of practice at making cakes and forgot the whole opening the door who ha so collapse situation.. tastes good though! Do you think the time was right in total so next time if I did for 45 without opening the oven it would be ok or any theories on maths with the time for the smaller tin. Please let me know. May just have to suck it up and go buy 2x 9inch ones! Many thanks x

Martha April 1, 2019

Our household is down to two and I plan to start baking deserts in a six-inch round cake pan. I have a good sense from this article about how to cut down the ingredients. Is there a general rule of thumb about how to translate cooking times (many recipes call for an 8 or 9 inch round cake pan, same depth). Apologies if I have missed that herein!

Sabrennah March 24, 2019

What if you wanted to do the opposite? Such as scaling down a recipe. I want to take my cake recipe, that calls for a 9 inch round and make 6 inch rounds with it...not sure how to cut the recipe in halve correctly? Thanks for any help!

Don B. March 25, 2019

the math works the same scaling down as scaling up. One 6" round will use about 44% of the recipe of one 9" round. (44% is close enough to half as should make no difference.) So your recipe for a 9" round should make enough cake for two 6" rounds. (Or you could just halve the ingredients and make one 6" round.)

Jeff February 1, 2019

How do I calculate from 8 round to cupcakes? Would the area math work for cupcakes and if so, is their a standard size for a cupcake?

Pamela_in_Tokyo December 18, 2020

I found this for muffin pans which I think is the same as cupcake pans

Muffin
1 3/4 x 3/4 in. 1/8 cup = 4.5 x 2 cm 30 ml
2 3/4 x 1 1/8 in. 1/4 cup = 7 x 3 cm 60 ml
2 3/4 x 1 1/2 in. 1/2 cup = 7 x 4 cm 120 ml
3 x 1 1/4 inches 5/8 cup = 8 x 3 cm 150 ml

Read more: https://www.joyofbaking.com/PanSizes.html#ixzz6h2T51QZa

Xan January 28, 2019

I'm baking brownies and the recipe calls for an 8x8 pan but i want to bake it in a 9x9 pan. I followed your computation and end up to 1.50. How can i double my recipe?

Salma January 20, 2019

I want to halve a recipe that calls for a 9 inch springform pan. What size pan should I use instead?

Don B. January 21, 2019

To fill the pan to the same depth, you'll want to use a pan that's 6.3” in diameter (or as close as you can get) - that's 9” divided by the square root of 2 (0.707).

Annie January 19, 2019

I’m making cornbread and have a 9” square pan, not the 8” a square pan called for in the recipe. How do I adjust the cooking time?

Lori December 29, 2018

I am making a Strawberry dessert with pretzel crust that requires a 9 by 13 pan. I would like to make one and a half times that amount do not want to completely double the recipe what size pan would I use?

Don B. December 29, 2018

many possibilities. how about a 13" x 13" square pan. that will be close to your 1 1/2 times amount.

Alexine B. December 19, 2018

Im making a 1/8 in cake, what size cake pan do I use?

Don B. December 19, 2018

what do you mean by 1/8 in? do you really mean it's 1/8 inch thick?

Diana December 18, 2018

Sorry. I have a recipe for spice bars that calls for a 17x11x1-1/2 baking pan. Can someone please give a substitution. I can't find this size pan anywhere. I think it is from way back. Please help. I asked for help but put the wrong size. It is a 17x11x1-1/2 pan substitution I'm looking for. Help

Don B. December 19, 2018

you don't say what size baking you want to use. assuming it's a standard size, say 9" x 13", then you'll need about 2/3 (actually about 62.5%) of your current recipe.

Diana December 18, 2018

please help me. I have a TBI but, want to make a recipe for spice bars which uses a 17x111x1-1/2 inch pan that is measured from the inside. I don't have this size pan so what can I substitute? Cab somebody help?

Shelley K. December 5, 2018

Im working in a camp with over 200 people and we need to bake with the large industrial sheet pans.. for things like nanaimo bars date aquares etc..how many times would i double the recipe?? 4 or 5?? Plz help. Shelley

Diana S. September 26, 2019

If I am starting with a boxed cake mix, I use four for a full sized sheet pan....approximately 18x26, and that works great, just don’t add a lot of extras or scale down one box. Hope this works. I bake for my church - 700 to 1,000 cookies for four services and anything I can bake and slice is a life saver.

Neha October 10, 2018

Very useful article for increasing the volume of cake and what pan size to use.

I would appreciate if you could also tell how to decrease a recipe to fit a smaller pan
For example an 8 x 2” pan using 6 eggs And 2 cups almond flour.
To halve the recipe what pan size will work best?
Thank you in advance for your advice
[email protected]

Emily J. September 12, 2018

So I have a chocolate cake recipe that makes 3 8" rounds. I want to make a rectangle cake and I have a 9x13 pan. So would 1 batch of cake be enough? If I split it between two 9x13 pans, I'd have thinner layers to stack?

Siv September 1, 2018

Hi! I am hoping you can help me! I have a carrot cake receipt that calls for 2 9 inch round pans. I am trying to convert it to a 3 tier cake. Pan sizes: 3x2, 5x2, 7x2. How do I convert that? Thank you!

Adele July 26, 2018

Hello, Just to make sure I get this right...if I have a recipe for an 8 or 9 inch cheesecake...what do I do if I want to use a 6 inch pan? Thanks!

Jerrie July 22, 2018

Hi, my query is about baking in 3in deep pans. A couple of sites suggest x number of cups per pan using a 3in deep pan but the volumes differ significantly. Do you have a suggestion on the volume required for a 6x3in, 8x3in and 10x3in deep pan? I want to avoid underfilling as I've read this inhibits rising and overfilling where the cake dries out from taking too long to set or doesn't set snd sinks in the middle.

Thanks

Lissa J. July 18, 2018

Thanks for replying. I have a favorite chocolate cake that uses 2, 8 inch pans and other cakes that use 9 inch pans. My 6 inch pan is round and 2 1/2 inches deep.

Lissa J. July 17, 2018

Hi This is very good information. However, I am now cooking for one, after losing my husband. I love desserts and would like to know how to reduce the size of a cake to a 1 layer 6 inch pan. Thanks

Don B. July 18, 2018

Very sorry about the loss of your husband. However, you haven't provided enough info to answer your question. Do you have a current recipe you'd like to reduce? What type and size pan is it he current recipe? Is the new 6” pan circular, square , or ?? Etc.

Denise M. July 13, 2018

In reference to my question:
1/3 cup - whites of 2 large eggs
3/4 cup - whites of 4 large eggs
Just need conversion from large egg white amounts to 7 JUMBO egg whites.

Denise M. July 13, 2018

If I have a cake recipe that calls for 7 Jumbo Egg Whites.
How many cups of egg beater egg whites do I need? They are considered large in the container.

Denise M. June 29, 2018

Carrot Cake
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ¼ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. table salt
1 ¾ tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. ground nutmeg
⅛ tsp. ground cloves
1 lb. peeled carrots, (about 6 to 7 carrots)
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
½ cup packed light brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 ½ cups vegetable oil

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
10 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3 cups confectioners' sugar, sift if lumpy
1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
2 Tbsp. sour cream (optional, but adds a tangier taste and creamier texture)
1 lb. COLD cream cheese, (brick-style cut into 1-inch pieces

This recipe is mainly for (3) 8 inch round layers or (2) 9 inch round layers---the depth pans are 2
inches.

Can you convert this recipe for me to (3) 9 inch round layers-depth pans are 2 inches.? I really appreciate your help with this.....

Don B. June 30, 2018

If this recipe works for either 3 8" round layers or 2 9" layers, then to get 3 9" layers of the same depth, just multiply the recipe for the carrot cake by 1.5 (i.e., increase it by 50%). As for the frosting, assuming the entire top and sides are frosted, and assuming there is frosting between the layers, do the same - just add 50% to the recipe.

Denise M. July 2, 2018

Thank you so much. You make my cooking life so much better!

Lola June 18, 2018

I have a recipe that calls for a 9x13 square pan, however I would like to use a 9inch round tin to bake a cheesecake. Would I need to cut my recipe in half? What would be your best advice for this?

Thank you!

Don B. June 19, 2018

Roughly, yes, cut your recipe in half. (The actual amount is 54% of your original pan.)

Lola June 19, 2018

Thanks Don!

So would be it best to them use an 8inch, so the measurements are exactly half? What cooking time would you recommend?

Don B. June 19, 2018

Lola,
If you mean an 8" square pan, then it is still approximately 55% of the original 9" x 13" pan. If you mean an 8" round pan, it is only about 43% of the 9" x 13" pan. So you're better off with either the 9" round pan or the 8" square pan to be close to your 50% estimate. (The difference of 4% or 5% from 50% isn't enough to matter, so you can just make half the original recipe. But none of them are *exactly* 50% of the original recipe.)

As for cooking time, I think the new cooking time should be pretty close to time in the original recipe since the heat will mainly enter from the bottom and top. By cutting the recipe in half for the 8" square or 9" round pan, the depth of the batter will be about the same as in the original 9" x 13" pan, so the cooking time should be roughly the same. To be safe, I'd probably starting checking for doneness at around 80-90% of the original cooking time. Good luck. Let me know how it turns out.
Don

Lola July 2, 2018

Hey Don,

The recipe came out delicious!! I halved the recipe and baked it for the same amount of time. My cheesecake cracked pretty bad (which has never happened before) but I think that had to do with using a fan-forced oven and not realizing I had to adjust the temperature.
Thanks for your help! I will try making this again and adjusting the temperature.

Don B. July 2, 2018

yes, a forced-fan (convection) oven will heat the cake more quickly, so lower the temp by 25 degrees or so. (or just turn off the convection feature.)

Sara June 15, 2018

Hi,

just a quick question. I want to change a brownie batter that is for a 16cm*16cm square tin, to at 16 cm round tin. Ive done the calculations, and i take every ingredient*0,78 and i think this is correct. However, i am stuck with the baking time. The original recipe calls for 25 minutes baking at 175 degrees celsius. Would i change the baking time? I am so afraid to get a dry brownie

Don B. June 16, 2018

Hmm. You're right about the change in the batter amount, but the cooking time is not so clear. Since the perimeter of the round tin is less than that of the square, and the distance from the edge to the center is also mostly less than that for the square tin, I'd think the cooking time will be less as well, but not by a lot, especially since most of the heat enters from the top and bottom; that distance should be the same for both tins. Nonetheless, I'd start checking with a toothpick at around 20 minutes (which you should probably do even if staying with the original tin).

Samantha H. May 30, 2018

Hi there! This is very helpful. Just curious about chemical leavener. If you're scaling up in pan size, let's say you're going from a 6 x 2 to a 10 x 2, is the baking powder converted in the same proportions as the rest of the ingredients, or should it be treated differently/reduced? And if it should be reduced, is there a set amount to lower it by?

Lilaloa May 24, 2018

I have a recipe for a 9" round cake that I need to convert into a 10" SQUARE cake. 😫 If my calculations are right, the 1.56 can be safely rounded up to 2?
Here is the recipe:
1&1/4 cup cake flour
1&1/4 tsp baking p
1/2 tsp baking s
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup sug
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup buttermilk
1&1/2tsp v extract
I feel like my math is wrong & that this will be a disaster.

Lilaloa May 24, 2018

I forgot to add the 2 large eggs. 😂

Don B. May 24, 2018

Yes, you can round the 1.57 up to 2 (i.e., double all the ingredients), but you will have an extra 27% in depth, so adjust your cooking time accordingly. alternatively, use only 3/4 of the batter your recipe yields to fill the 10" pan to the same depth as the 9" pan. finally, be sure to check the doneness of the cake frequently after the time the original recipe says it should be done, since the cooking time will be different ( a bit longer) for the 10" pan.

Lilaloa May 24, 2018

BLESS YOU. THANK YOU. I should state that the batter is always thin for the 9" round (its supposed to be), and because of that I have to pour 1 batch into 1 pan, then repeat for the second . Bake time is 25 min.
***Bc it's thin, I've never been able to split it b/w two pans and I doubt I'll be able to for the 10" sq, despite it being doubled. 😫 (Or can I 😲🤔)

So since I'll have to double, I'm guessing 35-45m bake time @350° is safe? I'll also likely have to double ingr-whisking time....

contessa W. April 12, 2018

i have a recipe that is for 2-8 inch round cake tins. i want to make a wedding cake that is a three tier 6'', 9'', and a 12'' how can i convert that?

Don B. April 13, 2018

assuming you want each of the 3 tiers in your desired cake to be the same thickness as one of your 8" cake tins, you will need a little over twice as much of the recipe. The total volume of the 2 8" cake pans is 100.5 x h, where h is the height of the cake pan; so if the 8" cake pans are 2" deep, they have a total volume of 201 cubic inches. The 3 tiers, each of height h, will have a volume of 205 x h; so, for h = 2", the 3 tiers have a volume of 410 cubic inches, or a little over twice the recipe for the 2 8" cake pans.

Colin April 10, 2018

Thank you for this! Extremely useful. I’m just wondering if the oven temperature would need to change when scaling up a recipe?

Harsh April 10, 2018

Thank you so much it is a very helpful article

Carla S. March 7, 2018

I have a recipe that calls for 2, 8" round cake pans. I would like to make 2, 9x13 pans instead. By your math, I should be able to do 1 double batch per 9x13 pan - right? Thank you!

Don B. March 8, 2018

I'm not quite sure what you mean by a "double batch per pan", but your 2 8" round pans have a total area of about 100 square inches, while your 2 9"x13" pans have a total area of 234 square inches. So your recipe which fills the 2 round cake pans would not quite fill one of the rectangular pans. Hope this answers your question.

Denise M. March 7, 2018

need help converting cake recipe from (3) 9" round layers to (3) 10" round layers

Cake (3-9inch layers)
2 box White cake mix
16 oz sour cream
½ c Vegetable oil
6 eggs
15 oz can Cream of Coconut (such as Coco López)

Frosting
16 oz cream cheese
4 Tbsp. milk
2 lbs. Powdered Sugar
2 tsp. Vanilla
4 bags (about 24 oz.) Fresh Frozen Coconut

Please help...need it today ([email protected])

Don B. March 7, 2018

Assuming you want the same thickness layers in the 10" layers as in the 9" layers, your new cake will have almost 25% (actually 23.4%) more volume in it. Therefore, you will need about 25% more ingredients, which computes as (for the cake): 2 1/2 boxes white cake mix; 20 ox sour cream; 5/8 c (5 oz) vgetable oil; 7 1/2 eggs; and 19 oz Cream of Coconut. The amount of frosting depends on the surface area, not the volume, of the cake. The relative surface area of the two cakes depends on both the diameter of the cakes as well as the heights (thicknesses) of the cakes. Without knowing the different thicknesses, it's impossible to determine exactly the amount of increase in the frosting recipe. However, let's make an assumption that both cakes are both 8" high (including all three layers). Then the 9" cake has an area of about 707 square inches, and the 10" cake has an area of about 817 square inches, so you will need about 15% more frosting. (This assumes that there is no frosting between the layers. If there is a half inch of frosting between the layers - which means two layers of frosting plus the top surface, then you'll need about 18% more frosting total for the 10" cake as opposed to the 9" cake.)

Denise M. March 8, 2018

Thank you Don Babston. You really helped me!!

JuJu March 1, 2018

Nothing beats the math, especially when one may have an irregular-sized pan, and the article above is great in explaining area and circumference.

For folks, however, who shy away from the math and want to know the capacity of common-sized baking pans, enter in your browser, the search phrase, "baking pans volume or capacity," to see a few other sites that provide a list for other common sizes and capacities in addition to the ones above.

You'll still need to do a bit of math if comparing capacities, as ecplained in the article, but this may help folks with cup capacity when comparing.

Don't forget that regardless of capacity, fill only 2/3 full as this article states, to prevent over-flow.

Sherry C. February 13, 2018

My name is Sherry and I have a question that I hope you can answer for me. I have a recipe that calls for a 9 by 13 pan. I am going to Triple the recipe. See I already know how many batches of the recipe I need, what I need to know is what size pan I need to fit this in. Do you happen to know that answer? I have a pan that is 12 by 18 by 2. That is my biggest pan. Will that be big enough? By the way my dish is not baking it is something that is being cooked on the stove poured into a pan to set and be covered with other stuff. I just do not want to make three separate batches. I cannot triple the batch and then make one pan full and wait to fill the other pans because it is a candy and that cannot be done. I would have to make each batch separately and I'm a disabled woman wanting to combine everything and make it all at once to save energy and time. Any advice on how to do this would be greatly appreciated.

JuJu March 1, 2018

A 9" x 13" x 2" rectangular pan is 117 sq in, which happens to hold ~15 cups. Tripling that amount, of course, is 45 cups.

A 12" x 18" x 2" is 216 sq. Dividing 216 by 117 is ~1.84, which means the 12" x 18" pan holds close to 2 times the amount of the 9" x 13" pan, but not 3 times the amount.

Manufacturers list volume capacity of baking pans in terms of water, but that does not equate to the capacity of various batters, which is why the recommended amount to fill any size pan is 2/3 full of the pan's total volume..

Noreen February 8, 2018

I have a baking pan that is long and narrow 15 x 6 and 1 inch high. What can I bake in it?
Please help. It says I can bake a pie or anything else that normally goes in a round pan ?
This pan came from Bandwagon?

JuJu March 1, 2018

Aside from volume or pan's capacity, what is baked in it depends on whether the pan is light or dark metal, or glass. With glass, decresse oven temp by 25 degrees and cook a bit longer to avoid over-browning or a burnt finishef product.

With a light-metal pan, remember, baked goods bake and brown more slowly as with a darker pan heat is absorbed more quickly.

Think light-colored clothing on a hot, summer day reflects heat and keeps one cooler, while datk-colored clothing absorbs heat and keeps one hotter.

Karen February 4, 2018

Thank you for this very informative and practical post. I need help converting a recipe for 7” angel food/tube pan to a 9” angel food/tube pan (that’s the size I own). I’m thinking buying a 7” pan may be easier-lol. Thanks for your help!

Don B. February 4, 2018

The simple answer is that you'll need about 65% more batter for the 9" pan than the 7" pan (9 divided by 7, quantity squared). But watch the assumptions that go into this simple answer: it assumes that the center holes in the two pans are in the same proportion to the outer dimensions (i.e., if the center hole in the 7" pan is 2", then the center hole in the 9" pan is about 2.5"); it also assumes that the walls of both pans are vertical, not tapered, so that the diameter of the pan and the center hole are constant from bottom to top. Despite these assumptions, you should be safe if you make 75% more batter - you might end up with a little left over (or be a little short), but not by much.

Michael F. December 28, 2017

Calculate the area then times it by the depth, correct?

Michael F. December 28, 2017

Where does depth of a pan come into the area calculations? How do you figure that in?

Don B. December 28, 2017

To determine the amount of a recipe to make in order to fit into a different pan from the original recipe's pan, you need to do a volume-to-volume comparison. To calculate the volume of a pan with a constant cross-section independent of the vertical position, just multiply the area of the cross-section by the pan's depth. (If the pan's cross-section does not have a constant area, for example a tapering pan, a simple multiplication by the depth won't work.) note that different pan depths will affect the cooking times.

radhaks November 17, 2017

Hi, have a recipe calling for 3 6" round cake tins (assuming at usual 2 or 3" depth) for layered cake. I want to fit batter into a jelly roll pan (half baking sheet?) with a 3/4" height. Will a single recipe fit (given the lesser height in baking sheet)?

Sally November 17, 2017

The batter will definitely fit- the volume for your recipe is about 60 cubic in, and for the jelly roll pan, it's about 80.

Don B. November 17, 2017

I don't think so - not even close. As Sally says, the volume of one of your 6" round cake tins (6" diameter = 3" radius) is about 60 cubic inches (assuming a depth of 2"). So, your recipe, which fills 3 of the round cake tins, will fill about 180 cubic inches. Assuming your jelly roll pan (about half a standard 13" x 18" baking sheet) is filled to a depth of 3/4", it has a volume of about 90 cubic inches. So your recipe will fill two of these jelly roll pans. (And, if the recipe fills your round cake tins to a depth of 3" instead of 2", it will fill 3 of the jelly roll tins.)

radhaks November 17, 2017

Thank you for the response!

Nimrah S. November 6, 2017

Wish I'd seen this before! Baked a cake for 9 inch square pan in an 8 inch square pan because you know what difference could an inch make. It rose so high from the middle and I couldn't even cut of the top to make it even because it was topped with a nice crumble. Lol not the best look for the potluck but tasted fine! Thanks for this article!

Julie G. October 21, 2017

I wish that this discussed pie plate conversions too because it's not quite as simple as cake pan conversions.

Sally October 8, 2017

So, I actually don't have a problem with converting anything. I have a dacquoise recipe that calls for 2 12x8 jelly roll pans, but the only ones I have are 12x16. Is there any disadvantage to using the big pan?

Lynn S. September 21, 2017

If converting a recipe for a round cake pan to loaf pans, assuming the volume is calculated correctly, and I bake it until it's done correctly, does changing the shape this way affect the texture of the finished product?

Grazi July 18, 2017

I'm curious, if I'm converting a cake recipe normally intended for 8-inch round pans to mini pans, should i also lower the temperature, as the overall density of the batter is also less? I've always winged this and just lowered the temp by about 25 degrees F and watched it for doneness.

Karen J. July 2, 2017

Hi, can I ask with increasing from an 8" to a 12" round cake (making a victoria sponge cake in a 12" loose bottomed tin so I will need to use my cake cutter do divide it into 2 before putting jam/buttercream in) With 2.26 should I double the recipe, times by 2.5 or triple it?
Yours a math-o-phobe with a headache! x

Don B. July 2, 2017

As I understand your question, you want to go from an 8" circular pan to a 12" circular pan. In that case, you'll need to increase the batter by a factor of 2.25/ (You could make it a factor of 2.5 to be safe, but 2.25 is the correct factor.) So, if for example, the recipe calls for 4 cups of flour, you'll need to use 9 cups instead. Let us know how it turns out, and if you have any jam/buttercream left over, send it my way ...

Samantha V. June 8, 2017

Or you could check on your thin brownies sooner.

Luisa C. May 29, 2017

Hello I have a recipe for a 6" cake pan, but I need to make 2 cakes, one in 10" and another in 12" cake pans, do I need to make 3,5 and 4 times the recipe for this two pans??
Thank you so much for your help.....

Ciara May 19, 2017

You are heaven sent! Thanks so much :)
Question: if I wanted to concert a 6" round recipe into a 10" square recipe, that would mean roughly I would be using 3.5 times the ingredients (100/29=3.44), is that correct?

Don B. May 19, 2017

Yup. For the same depth of batter, you're only concerned about the ratio of the areas to determine how much to multiply the batter by. The area of a 10" square pan is 100 square inches, and the area of a 6" (diameter) is pi times the radius (3") squared or about 28.3 square inches. 100 divided by 28.3 is about 3.5, so just multiply the amount of batter used for the 6" round by 3.5 in order to fill the 10" square pan to the same depth.

Jerry C. May 14, 2017

When I was in school, I did not understand diameters (rounds) nobody took the time to explain how to arrive at an answer, I almost always made things harder than they were. Thanks for the math lesson.

Greg April 29, 2017

Great article. Thank you! When increasing amounts, how do you adjust the ratios for chemical leaveners like baking powder. If I quadruple the flour, should I also quadruple the baking powder?

Rahul B. April 15, 2017

Thanks for the recipe.
Gonna try it today.
www.govt-job.guru

Lina April 13, 2017

I would like to bake a six inch cake. I'm using the 56% you provided for another post listed below. I want to make sure I'm doing this correctly. I will multiply all the ingredients by 56% and that will be the amount I use.

Thanks for your help in advance!

Don B. April 14, 2017

Yup. That should be correct. With 56% of the ingredients, you should have the same depth batter in the 6" round tin as for the full recipe in an 8" round tin.

Colleen April 9, 2017

I would like to make a carrot cake that calls for a 10-inch tube pan, but want to convert into a sheet pan. With the same volume would I be better using a 10 x 15 pan or 12 x 17 pan?

Don B. April 9, 2017

The worst possible answer: it depends. Assuming that, by a 10" tube pan, you mean a Bundt pan that is 10" in diameter, you still need to know the diameter of the interior "pole". I don't have a Bundt pan, so I can't make a measurement. From pictures of Bundt pans, they look like a 10" Bundt pan has a central pole with a diameter of maybe 2.5". If that is the case for the 10" pan you're talking about, the area of the annulus to be filled with batter is about 74 square inches. (This does not account for any taper of the central pole from bottom to top.) A 10 x 15 pan has an area of 150 square inches, or roughly double the area of the Bundt pan, so you'll need to double the amount of batter you make for the Bundt pan to fill the 10x15 sheet pan to the same depth. (The 12x17 pan will need even more batter, so I'd just stay with the 10x15 pan.) Another factor to consider is that the baking time for the Bundt pan will be less than a sheet pan filled to the same depth since the Bundt pan cooks from the inside out as well as the outside in. So, I'd probably double the amount of batter called for by the Bundt pan recipe, use the 10x15 sheet pan, and start checking for doneness when the Bundt pan recipe says its cake should be done. Let us know how it turns out.

Anita March 24, 2017

Hi Alice, thank you for this in depth explanation. Can you tell us what the equation is if you want to go from a larger pan to a smaller one. My recipe is for a 8in round tin but need to make it in a 6in round. What do we do in this situation?

Don B. March 26, 2017

To determine the amount of batter for a given depth in a round tin, just remember the area of a circle formula: A = pi * r2 (r2 = r squared = r * r). And then the volume of a cylinder V = A*h, where A is the area of a circular cross-section of the cylinder, and h is the height of the cylinder. Since you're dividing the volume of one cylinder b y the volume of another cylinder of the same height (batter depth), the height, h, and the constant pi cancel out of the ratio, and you're left with the square of the ratio of the circle radii (or, equivalently, diameters). So, as an example, to go from an 8" tin to a 6" tin, just square the ratio 6/8, and get 0.5625. Therefore, you'll need about 56% as much batter for the 6" tin as for the 8" tin.

Gwen S. March 24, 2017

I am making my daughters wedding cake and I have nightmares because it did not work for my sons 6 years ago. On the theory please check if I am correct with the sizing. A 7 inch tin is 38.46 and a 10 inch tin is 78.5. Difference is 40.04. Do I up the recipe by another 1.4% of ingredients. Maths has never been my strong point. Many thanks

Don B. March 24, 2017

No, no ... the ratio of 78.5 to 38.48 is about 2, so you need to double the ingredients to get a cake batter of the same depth, in going from a round tin of 7" diameter to one of 10".

j123 March 11, 2017

hey i have these mini cake silicon molds and I don't know or can't find a recipe for a pan that is 2 inches wide and 3 inches long I know it is really small but I want to make a small cake. Is it possible or does anyone know a recipe for that small cake? I would really appreciate it to get some help :-)

Sally October 8, 2017

You should look up "Coffee Mug Cake Recipe" on Google- I imagine you'll get a lot of results.

Cecília M. March 6, 2017

Hi! I found a great cheesecake recipe but the "problem" is that the recipe calls for two 8in round pans. I would like to make just a bigger one. I was thinking of using a 10in springform pan. I've checked each pans volume and in total, two 8in pans equal one 10in. The time that the recipe suggests is 250ºF in a water bath for 1 hour and 40 minutes. Should I change it? Or can I keep both temperature and time? Thanks a lot

Don B. March 6, 2017

I'm not sure, but mathematically, 2 8" pans would seem to me about 28% bigger in area than one 10" pan, so ...
If the volume of the 2 8" pans is the same as one 10" pan, the 10" pan must be deeper, hence the batter would be thicker than the 2 8" pans combined and much thicker than one 8" pan. So ...
If the time of 1h40m is for an individual 8" pan, I would plan on increasing the time by about 50% (to 2h30m) and start checking at around 2 hours, but maybe I misunderstand your question entirely.

Cecília M. March 7, 2017

Thank you very much! I'll see how it goes!:D

lin March 5, 2017

I need to convert a recipe for a 6inch pan baked at 350 degrees for 25 minutes to an 8 inch pan. I will increase the recipe by .75. How long do I bake it.

Don B. March 5, 2017

If by "increasing the recipe by .75", you mean that you'll make .75 more of the recipe (e.g., go from 4 cups to 7 cups), then you should have about the same depth of batter in the 8" pan and the baking time should be about the same (I.e., bake at 350 for 25 minutes).

Shannon March 3, 2017

Ok, so my maths is awful and I am in South Africa, so the inches is making it worse for me to work it out. Please help me. I have to make a 40cm x 40cm cake for a customer for next Friday. My usual recipe makes a double layer 25cm round cake. Please tell me how many times I need to multiply my recipe by to make the 40cm x 40 cm cake. 🙃🌸

Don B. March 3, 2017

You don't say whether your 40 cm square cake is to be a double layer cake or not. Assuming that it is also to be a double layer cake like the original 25 cm round cake, you'll need to increase the recipe by a factor of approximately 3.25. (The area of the 40 cm square pan is 1600 square cm, and the area of the 25 cm (diameter) round pan is about 490 square cm, so the ratio is about 3.25.)

mcs3000 March 1, 2017

Thank you for doing the math for us - so helpful. SAVING this!

Linda February 21, 2017

Convert egg white muffin recipe to baking pan?

Peggy B. February 12, 2017

I wish to use Allison Fryers recipe for an 8" spring form "Chocolate Cloud Cake" but I only have a 9" spring form. Will this work or do I have to increase the ingredients by 15% ? (this is a flourless, 6 eggs & chocolate)

Don B. February 12, 2017

It seems to me that if you want the same depth in the pan, you need to increase the ingredients by about 25% (26.525% to be exact). (That is (9/8)^2. I would guess that with the same depth in the pan, the cooking time and temperature should be about the same as your current recipe.

Peggy B. February 12, 2017

Thanks Don, would it be better to go down a size to a 7" pan? what are your thoughts. thanks!

Don B. February 12, 2017

Peggy,
I'm not sure from a cooking standpoint. I'm sure there others in this forum who are better able to answer that. I can say that if you go to a 7" pan, you'll need about 25% less of the ingredients as compared to the 8" pan (and, of course, you'll get about 75% as much cake).

Peggy B. February 12, 2017

Don, thanks for your thoughts.

kate January 24, 2017

If you are looking to convert and scale your recipes I would suggest you look at 'Baking It' http://www.bakingit.com.
This piece of software enable any baking business owner to to add in their recipes and convert and scale them to suit your needs. This is just one of the awesome features of this software. I can literally do everything I need to here to run my baking business. create orders, email customers, list ingredients, even design cakes for slicing guides.
Worth checking out.

Kristen N. November 23, 2016

Hello,

I am about to bake a flourless chocolate cake: http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-the-best-flourless-chocolate-cake-230483

The Recipe calls for a 9inch spring loaded pan, we only have 10.25 inch.

ratio was super complicated, I rounded a bit to get 1.3...I swear this should be a math problem in every elementary school...no college, #complicated

Viva November 7, 2016

Hi,
I need to adjust a recipe for an Italian cream cake from 3 8-inch rounds to 1 14-inch square. That gives me a ratio of 1.3. However I have tried just doing 1.25 times the recipe and the cake burned from the sides while not cooking right in the center. Can you explain why this happened and suggest a remedy? Thanks

Ella November 15, 2016

for cakes 10in or larger use a heating core for even distribution of heat. http://fatdaddios.com/help/using-heating-core-or-heating-rod

The cake is too large when it's 14" and the heat cannot distribute like it would for an 8 in pan.

Emily November 1, 2016

Hi, I need to convert a recipe from an 8*8 inch baking dish to a 13 by 18 inch pan. The conversion says that it needs to be about 3.6X what the original recipe calls for. Is it safe to say 4X or just 3.5X? 3.5X just seems like a hassle. Thanks!

Nicole F. October 26, 2016

Hi I need to make an 8" cake pan recipe into a 9x13" pan. Would it be safe to just double the recipe and start checking the time sooner?

Don B. October 27, 2016

that should be approximately correct. to be a little more accurate, you should multiply the original by about 2 1/3 to get the same depth of batter in your 9x13" pan. if you do that, then your cooking time might be a little longer in the 9x13" pan since its perimeter is longer than the 8" circular pan. (if you only double your original recipe, the depth of batter in the 9x13" pan will be slightly less than in the 8: pan, and the cooking time should be a little shorter and, as you say, you should start checking for doneness sooner.)

Robyn C. September 9, 2016

There is a website called cakeometer which does the scaling for you. I've just made a three tier wedding cake using it and it worked

RH September 8, 2016

Hello,
I am not a bit ashamed about asking for help! Thanks. How should I adapt a recipe for 2 nine inch pans to fill 3 eight inch pans? I have been just increasing the measurements by 50 percent and it does make a magnificently tall cake but it is almost too tall! I tried the math but came up with something like 19 percent increase? I was thinking of rounding that to 25 percent but thought I'd check with the professor first.
Best Regards,
McJeeps

Robyn C. August 10, 2016

Hi
I need to scale down a 10" round pan to a 6" one. I've done the calculation (I think!), and the scale is 2.7 - but I'm not sure how to calculate 2.7 less of everything. Am probably just being dense, but could you explain it?

Many thanks!

Felicia G. August 6, 2016

I want to make a 12in square cake 2in deep. Do I need to double the recipe? I am making the Hershey Chocolate Recipe.

Don B. August 6, 2016

which hershey chocolate recipe do you mean? please provide a link.

Lim007 July 27, 2016

hi, i am making brownies this Saturday and the recipe ask for 8x8 square pan, but I only have 12x8 inches rectangle pan(not sure if I have measure it correctly), so do I need to divide 96 inches by 64 which equals to 1.5. Does this means I need to double the recipe?

Don B. July 27, 2016

You did the calculation (96/64 = 1.5) correctly, but your conclusion is wrong. You need 50% more batter, not double. (For example, if the recipe calls for 2 cups of flour, you'll need 3 cups, not 4.)

Lim007 July 27, 2016

So, does this means I need to remain the same recipe or increase some by 2 , because the recipe is mostly in grams ,for example if it needs 200g all purpose flour do I need to change into 400g instead?

Lim007 July 27, 2016

Sorry for troubling, and thank you for helping, I get it now, thx a lot o∩_∩o

kath July 25, 2016

yes round cake. I have done with 6" cake and wonder how much more batter to add for bigger round cake, such as 7", 8" and 9"? shall I increase 50% or less for each pan size. all in round pans. thanks.

Don B. July 25, 2016

it's not quite that simple, but it works out to about a 30-35% increase for each step up in pan size. Specifically, to go from a 6" pan to a 7" pan, you'll need about 36% (roughly 1/3) more batter; to go from a 7" to an 8" pan, you'll need another increase of 30% (or 78% more batter than for a 6" pan); and to go from an 8" pan to a 9" pan, you'll need another 25% increase (or 125% more batter than for a 6" pan). (For the greatest leap from a 6" pan to a 9" pan, you'll need 2.25 times the batter; i.e., 125% more batter.)

kath July 27, 2016

Thanks for the info. Very helpful. :)

kath July 21, 2016

I have batter for 6" cakes. How to calculate batter for 7" and 8" batter as I want to bake on a bigger birthday cake? Thank you.

Don B. July 24, 2016

I don't fully understand your question. Are these cakes circular? If so, you will need batter for 3 (actually 3.2) 6" cakes to bill one 7" and one 8" pans to the same depth as the 6" pans.

Jennifer W. July 20, 2016

Sorry if this has already been addressed (there is a lot of info here) but is it true that when increasing batter amounts that you dont necessarily increase the leavening accordingly? For example, Ive read on Rose Levy's site if you're say, tripling, that you might not triple the amount of baking powder but only double it. I am making a three tiered cake in a few weeks, the largest pan being 14" round, so Id like to know if this is something I need to worry about!:)

Carol July 20, 2016

I am making a special bundt cake assortment for my nieces wedding and I have a bundt pan that is larger than the norm. In order to get a bigger cake so I can decorate I wanted to use a larger pan (deep) which I purchased at Bed Bath and Beyond. Do I add a ratio of one and half cake mixes to a larger pan and bake longer? I think it's pretty simple..but want assurance I am on the right track. Thank you!

Patty July 19, 2016

Hi I'm making zucchini bread and I have different size pans ithen what the recipe calls for. It's 4 x 4 x 14 inch loaf pan. I'm not quite sure how long to bake it. I need your help thank you... Patty

Mindy July 19, 2016

I have a big rectangle pan which is I think 11x25 if I'm measuring correctly. I also need 6" round cake. If a recipe says it makes 3-9" layers then should I double that recipe for the amount I need? I have to make this cake today. Sorry I'm terrible at math! ?

Marianne July 19, 2016

You don't need double the amount--you'll end up with a lot leftover. You need about 1.6 times the amount, but depending on the recipe, it might just be easier to double, and make an extra 9" or other small (8" or 9" square) one. Or, you could double the recipe and make the cakes a little taller (just don't fill the pans past 2/3rds or so full), but you'd still have batter left over. You would probably be ok with 1 and a half times the recipe, but the cakes might be just a liiiiittle short.

Quick math refresher:
We're ignoring height in the calculations, since the assumption is that we want the height to be the same as the recipe.
For the rectangle, it's simply length x width. (11x25)
For the rounds, it's pi times (radius squared), with the radius being 1/2 of the measurement of the pan all the way across. Ie, the 9" pan has a 4.5 radius, and 4.5 squared is 20.25. The 6" has a 3 inch radius, which comes to 9 when squared.
The numbers:
Recipe yielding 3, 9" layers (I'm assuming 9" round) will give you = (3 x {3.1416 x 20.25}) = (3 x {63.6}) = 190.85, or 191.
You need: (11x25) + (3.14159 x 9) = 275+28.27= 303.27, or 303.
What you need vs what the recipe yields:
303/191= 1.58, or roughly 1.6.
If you doubled the original, you'd end up with 382. (191x2) You'd have 79 left over, which would be enough for an entire additional 9" square cake.

Which you can bake and send to me if you'd like ;)

Amy K. November 20, 2018

Thank you!

Cheryl C. July 2, 2016

Can you bake a 7up cake in a 9x13 pan, or does it have to be baked in a bundt pan?

lea S. June 25, 2016

what wonderful info the mathematically challenged baker (aka ME) - thanks so much! sorry if i missed this explanation but what if you want to scale DOWN a recipe? i.e. a recipe that calls for two, 9 inch pans but you'd prefer to make it in 2, 7 inch pans? or is this a dumb question with an obvious answer? ;)

Don B. June 26, 2016

No such thing as a dumb question. If you want to keep the same depth batter in the 7" pans as in the original 9" pan recipe, you'll need only about 60% of the original batter. (The cooking time will be a bit shorter than in the original recipe, so start checking for doneness sooner than you would for the original recipe.)

Maggie A. June 23, 2016

So, to be clear...I don't have to worry about depth? But less batter would fit in a 9x2 than a 9x3 pan....

Gitanjali M. May 14, 2016

hi, the recipe calls for 2 9 inch round pans...I only own 6 inch round pan... so how do I adjust the cooking time?

cmhill87 May 5, 2016

I'd love a little more info on how to adjust cooking times. What does "a little bit longer" mean -- 2 minutes? 10 minutes? I'm making a 9x9 brownie recipe in a 9x13 pan. The recipe calls for 35 minute cook time, but I'm just unsure how long I'd need to extend that. Can anyone help? Thanks!

Debbie H. March 18, 2016

I can see all the maths but no actual 'chart' Where can I find it?

Jane G. March 16, 2016

Hi there! Stumbled across your page and I'm so glad I did. I'm terrible at math, but love baking and cooking. Here's my question (I'm sorry if it's already been asked...I don't have the patience to sift through comments already posted!) I'd like to bake a 8 x 8 brownie recipe into a half sheet pan (mine are from webstaraunt.com) and measure 13 x 18. When I do the math...234" divided by 64" I get 3.656. Should I multiply the original recipe ingredients down to 3.5 or bump it up to 4? Maybe 3.5 times would produce too thin brownies? Thanks!

Patricia March 3, 2016

This is great information, thanks. I have a question about adjusted cooking time though. I'm converting a 9" round to a 12x18 pan. Doing the math, I'll need 3-3/8 times the batter, but I plan to round up to 3-1/2 for a slightly taller cake. What would be my estimated cooking time? I wouldn't worry too much about this if the original and new pan sizes were similar, but going from a 9" round to a huge rectangle has me worried about overcooking the edges before the middle is anywhere near done. The original recipe is 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes and a metal pan. Thanks for the help!

Don B. March 3, 2016

Patricia,
Looks like you've got the math right for the recipe size. As for the cooking time, I wouldn't worry about the slightly greater depth due to rounding up (only 4% deeper due to your rounding up), but I think you're right to be concerned about the edges getting overcooked before the center is done. The distance from the corners of the rectangular pan to the center is about 11", and the distance from the middle of the long side to the center is 6", whereas the distance from the rim of the circular pan to its center is only 4.5". But, assuming your cake depth is, say, 10"-12", the vertical distance to the center is 5"-6" for both pans. Solving the partial differential heat equation is beyond me these days, so I can't provide a quantitative answer, but my guess is that the vertical distance will dominate the consideration (assuming your pan is in the middle of your oven and heat gets to the cake from all sides), and the cooking times should be about the same for both the circular and rectangular pans. To be safe, you should probably start checking for doneness in the middle of the cake at around 15 minutes, I would think. Let us know how the cooking time turns out.
Don

Patricia March 3, 2016

Thanks Don. I'm going to lower the temp a little, use cake strips around the pan and cook with the convection feature of my oven (which I rarely use). Hopefully the combination of all 3 will produce and evenly baked cake. Fingers crossed. Thanks for your help and I'll let you know how it works out.

Sebastian L. February 9, 2016

Thoughtful comments . I am thankful for the details . Does anyone know if my company might be able to acquire a blank a form copy to complete ?

carol February 4, 2016

Ok, here is my dilemma....I'm going to prepare (try to) a double sided pound cake. That would be one side white and the other chocolate, in a 12" X 16" pan but the recipe calls for a basic tube or bundt pan....how can I calculate the recipe and time?

Don B. February 5, 2016

Carol.
The formula for calculating the area of a tube/bundt pan is simple. Measure the radii of the outer circle and the inner tube; call them ro and rt. The area of the resulting cake is then just pi x (ro2 - rt2). (ro2 and rt2 are the squares of ro and rt, but I don't know how to put superscripts in this message.) For example, if the outer diameter of the bundt pan is 9", and the inner tube diameter is 2", then the area of the resulting cake is about 60 square inches.)
The area of the 12" x 16" pan is just 192 square inches. So, given the example measurements of the bundt pan above, the rectangular pan has about 3 times the area of the bundt pan. In this case, you'll need to make about 3 times the recipe called for for the bundt pan to fill the rectangular pan to the same depth as the bundt pan. This may be further complicated by the fact that the inner tube in bundt pans generally are tapered somewhat from bottom to top, so to a rough approximation, just measure the diameters around the middle depth.
The cooking time conversion is trickier since the bundt pan cooks from both its inner and outer edges and should cook faster than the rectangular pan. I'd probably try to start checking the rectangular pan for doneness at the time the bundt pan says the cake will be done, and then check every few minutes after that.
Hope this helps. If you provide the diameter measurements of the bundt pan, I can run the calculations for you.
Don

Beth January 16, 2016

Help math whiz! I'm going to make a smash cake for my little guy, and use the rest of the batter in heart shaped cupcakes. The recipe is for 2 9" rounds (doesn't specify depth as 1.5" or 2"). The smash cake pan is 4.75x6.25x4.25. The cupcake hearts measure 2.5 inches across, and hold 1/3 cup mix. First, can you tell me how many cupcakes I'll get out of it if I make just one cake? More importantly though, if the recipe says to bake at 350 degree F for 30-35 minutes, what do I need to do for these? Should I bake them separately?

Don B. January 16, 2016

Beth (one of my all-time favorite names, BTW),
This gets a little complicated, but here goes:
• The rectangular smash cake pan is the easy part: the 2 9” rounds have an area of 127 sqin (square inches). Assuming your rectangular smash cake pan is 4.75” wide by 6.25” long (with a depth of 4.25”), it has an area of 30 sqin. (The depth isn’t a factor in the area calculation.) This means that approximately ¼ of your recipe will fill the rectangular pan to the same depth as it would fill the 2 round pans. That means the cooking time for the rectangular smash cake pan should be about the same as for the round pans. (Since the area for the rectangular pan is so much smaller than that of a 9” round pan, the rectangular cake will probably cook a little faster, so I would probably start checking for doneness at the 25 minute mark just to be safe. I haven’t solved partial differential equations since graduate school to be more accurate than that.)
• The tougher part of the problem is the heart shapes: You say that the heart shapes are 2.5” across (wide), but that doesn’t say how high they are. Assuming the heart shapes are two semi-circles added to a square, my calculations give an area of 3.27 sqin per heart. If you’ve used ¼ of the recipe for the rectangular smash cake, that leaves ¾ for the heart shapes; that’s about 97 sqin to the same depth. So this ¾ of the recipe will make about 30 of the hearts assuming they are filled to the same depth. One problem is that these hearts are really small compared to the round pans, so filling the hearts to the same depth as you would use for the round pans would require a much shorter cooking time. I would probably fill the hearts to about double the depth you would fill the round or rectangular pans. That means you would make 15 hearts instead of 30. I can’t accurately estimate the required cooking time for this depth, so you should probably start checking for doneness at around the 20-25 minute mark. Of course, you don’t have to use the entire recipe; you could use only a part of the batter and make fewer hearts.
Hence, my bottom line recommendation is to fill the rectangular pan to the same depth as you would fill the round pans (say 2”), cook it (checking for doneness beginning at about 25 minutes). Then fill 15 hearts to a depth of 3-4” and cook them, checking for doneness beginning at 20 minutes. (And, yes, cook the hearts separately from the rectangular pan, just to be safe.)
Sorry this is so long winded, but as I said, this gets a little complicated.
Don

Beth January 17, 2016

What an amazing answer! Unfortunately, I didn't specify that the smash cake is actually round. Here's a link to what I'm looking at (I would just make one). I've also put a link to the heart cupcakes so you can see what I'm thinking.
Smash cake: http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AK4ADQ2?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_2&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
Cupcakes: http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B000M9OBPY?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
I don't know if this changes anything? Thank you SO much for your response - you're awesome!

Don B. January 17, 2016

Beth,
Thanks for the clarification about the true shapes of the smaller pans; the links really helped give me the picture. The changes actually don’t change the bottom line very much. If you followed my previous reply, this discussion should be much easier:
• The oval smash cake pan is the easy part: I assume the ovals are true ellipses; they look like they are, and, even if they’re not perfect ellipses, these answers should be pretty close. The 2 9” circular pans have an area of 127 sqin (square inches). Assuming your oval smash cake pan is 4.75” wide by 6.25” long (with a depth of 4.25”), it has an area of 23 sqin. (The depth isn’t a factor in the area calculation.) This means that approximately 1/5 of your recipe will fill 2 oval pans to the same depth as it would fill the 2 9” circular pans. That means the cooking time for the oval smash cake pan should be about the same as for the round pans. (Since the area for the oval pan is so much smaller than that of a 9” round pan, the rectangular cake will probably cook a little faster, so I would probably start checking for doneness at the 25 minute mark (based on 30-35 mins for the circular pans) just to be safe.)
• The tougher part of the problem is the heart shapes: Assuming the heart shapes are two semi-circles added to a square, my calculations give an area of 3.83 sqin per heart. (Judging by the picture in the link you provide, and the fact that each heart uses about 1/3 cup or 80 ml, this area should be close, but a depth of 2” for these cupcakes may be too high. But the picture looks like the hearts may be tapered in depth, so my calculations are probably pretty close.) If you’ve used 1/5 of the recipe for the oval smash cake, that leaves 4/5 for the heart shapes; that’s about 101 sqin to the same depth. So this 4/5 of the recipe will make about 27 of the hearts assuming they are filled to the same depth. (However, the hearts look to be much shallower than the oval or circular pans, so the actual number of hearts is probably much higher than 27.) Given that there are 6 hearts to a mold, I would probably start by making 3 molds-worth, or 18 hearts, of cupcakes, which will only take a fraction of the remaining batter, and go from there. I can’t accurately estimate the required cooking time for the depth of the cupcakes, plus the fact that the heart mold is made of silicone, not metal, so you should probably start checking for doneness at around the 15 minute mark.
Hence, my bottom line recommendation is to fill the oval pans to the same depth as you would fill the round pans (say 3”), cook them (checking for doneness beginning at about 25 minutes). Then fill 18 hearts to a depth of 1-2” and cook them, checking for doneness beginning at 15 minutes. (And, yes, cook the hearts separately from the ovals, just to be safe.) Let me know how this all works out, and I hope your little guy enjoys the cakes.
Don

Kimberly D. January 14, 2016

Mix calls for 8 inch. I have 9 inch. Went to the local Walmart and they only had 9 inch. So until I find I inch, how to I make a mix bigger?

Don B. January 15, 2016

Kimberly,
You'll need to make about 25% more for the 9" pan to fill to the same depth and have roughly the same cooking time. As to how to make more mix, a couple of ways come to mind: just add 25% more of the ingredients in the mix, or buy two boxes of the mix and discard 3/4 of one of the boxes plus whatever extra ingredients the mix calls for (water, eggs, milk, or whatever).

Michael R. January 9, 2016

What if I'm using a mix and can't change the amount? The box calls for a 9x13 glass pan, at 350f, 35-40 minutes. I have two glass pans...an 8x11 and a 10.5 x 14. Assuming I'm going to use the larger pan 'cause I'd be afraid the smaller pan would over-flow, would I change the temp, the time, or nothing?

Marianne January 10, 2016

Hi Michael,

Ok, lemme see if I can answer all your questions!
Since the recipe already calls for a glass pan, you don't need to adjust the temperature. As a rule of thumb, if a recipe calls for a *metal* pan, and you only have glass, reduce the temperature by 25 degrees & cook the suggested length of time.

The baking time, however, you will need to change. Why? Ok, so you're using the same amount of batter, but pouring it into a different sized pan. Since you're thinking of using the larger pan, the depth of the batter (and finished cake/brownies/etc) will be shorter. If you use the smaller pan, it will yield a taller cake/etc. The shorter the height of the batter, the easier it is for the heat of the oven to reach all the way through. Conversely, as an example, many cakes baked in loaf pans will take a lot longer, since the pan is taller & the heat has a thicker layer of batter to go through.

If you do end up using the 10.5x14 pan, you will need to bake it for less time. Without knowing the density of what you're making (brownie batter and cake batter are different densities, and cook for different times), I can't give you a specific decrease in the amount of time to cook it. I would suggest toothpick-testing it at about the 2/3rd mark if you had been using a 9x13 pan, and then about every 5 minutes thereafter. (ie, if the mix says to bake the 9x13 for 30 mins, check it at 20).

You'd probably be ok using the 8x11 pan, but you'd have to bake it longer than the suggested time for the 9x13.

Don B. January 10, 2016

Michael,
Maybe I'm missing something here, but just because you use a mix, why can't you reduce the amount of batter for a smaller pan? E.g., if you use the 8x11 pan instead of the 9x13 pan, you'll need about 75% of the batter made by the full mix recipe to fill the smaller pan to the same depth. So if the full mix recipe makes, say, 4 cups of batter, just measure out 3 cups of it and use the 8x11 pan. Other than that, I agree with Marianne's comment about using the larger pan.

Teeshia January 6, 2016

If I have a recipe for a 6 inch sponge cake but I need to make it in a 9x13 rectangle pan does this mean I need to make 4 times the amount? I hope my math is right, I need to figure this out by saturday. And would I still get the same height as a 6 inch cake with the same baking time?

Don B. January 6, 2016

I assume the 6" sponge cake is a round cake which is 6" in diameter, so, yes, you'll need about 4 times the recipe for a 9"x13" cake of the same height. (If the 6" inch sponge cake is in a square pan which is 6" on a side, you'll only need about 3.25 times the recipe.) And the same height cake of these dimensions should require about the same baking time, but I would check it a little sooner just to be safe.

Teeshia January 6, 2016

It's a 6 inch round cake recipe. Thank you so much! This means for my sponge cake i'm going to need 48 egss! Here goes! >_<

Don B. December 31, 2015

Hi, comfort,
3 9" (diameter) round pans occupy about 191 square inches, whereas 2 16" square pans occupy 512 square inches. So, assuming you want the depth in all the pans to be the same (so the cooking times will remain roughly the same between the round and square pans), you'll need to multiply your original recipe by about 2.7 (or 3, close enough). Hope this helps.
Don
P.S. Nigeria - cool!

comfort December 31, 2015

Hello,
I am so happy I found this page.
I really need your help.
The recipe my using makes 3 9in round pans but I need to make 2 16in square pans. How many times do I need to multiply d original amounts?
Sending my love all d way from Nigeria

Haytch December 28, 2015

So the recipe I'm using is for a cake to be baked in a normal round tin, but I'm wanting to use a loaf tin. I've found one with the right surface area and everything...so is that it? can I use the same temperature and timing as in the recipe?

Marianne December 24, 2015

For those who really don't like calculating the volume difference between pans, an easy solution is to use water. Fill a large measuring cup with water, and keep track of how many cups you need to fill the pans to the top (I know that you only fill pans with batter 2/3 of the way, but for volume comparison, filling the pans to the top gives the most accurate result, unless you're 100% confident in eyeballing where you think the 2/3 mark for each pan is). You can then simply compare the ratio of water volume, ie, a recipe calls for you to use "pan 1", which has 8 cups volume, but you want to use "pan 2", which has 6.5 cups volume. 6.5/8 = .81, so multiply the original recipe by .81 (less batter for a smaller pan, and obv you can round to .80 = 80%). Similarly, you can use the same method to increase a recipe amount. Ie, original recipe calls for "pan 2", 6.5 cups, but you want to use "pan 1", 8 cups, it would be: 8/6.5 , or about 1.23 times the recipe (obv, round up to 1.25, which would be an extra 25%). It's always: ("desired pan volume" / "original recipe volume" ) x original recipe amounts. This method works great for unusually-shaped pans, like "character" cake pans, hearts, decorative bundts, etc.

Don B. December 1, 2015

Assuming you put the entire original recipe for a 9" pan into the 8" pan, it should fill to a depth which is greater by about 26%. Cooking time should be approximately linear with depth and so should be about 25-26% longer. (So, given an original cooking time of, say, 45 minutes, the new cooking time should be about 57 minutes. So your estimate of 10 minutes longer is about right, but I agree you should check it after 5 minutes.)

Nadine December 1, 2015

I am baking a breakfast casserole in an 8" pan, but the recipe is for a 9" pan. Was wondering how much longer I should bake it & was hoping to see an answer here. I added an extra 10 min on the timer after turning the pan, but will check it after 5 min.

daisy S. November 8, 2015

good morning. i certainly hope you can help me with my math issue. i have been baking for years however this one has me stymied. I am baking a 3 layer cake in 8 in square pans. i have 2 8" and 1 9" (bottom to which i can decorate with the poached pears. i digress. how much do i increase the batter to accommodate the difference in the 1 pan?

Marianne December 24, 2015

Hi Daisy,
My understanding is that your original recipe makes three, 8"-square layers, but you want to adjust it so that it makes two, 8" layers and one, 9" layer?

(The below is simplified with the assumption that you want all the layers to have the same depth of batter; ie, since it is a constant across the board, it will cancel itself out, and no need to include it in the calculations.)
Original recipe area = (8" squared) x 3 = (64) x 3 = 192.
Desired = {(8 " squared) x 2} + (9" squared) = {(64)x2} + (81) = 128 + 81 = 209.
Difference needed = Desired - Original = 209-192 = 17
Difference needed as a percentage of the original = { (17/192) = ("x"/100) } = { 192x = 1700}, so x = 8.85, or close enough to 9.
So, you'll need an additional 9% of batter. I'm pretty sure you could round up to 10% to simplify things. I would definitely suggest weighing the dry ingredients to help with the adjustment, and use the suggested technique above for any extra egg.

Sarah November 5, 2015

All I can say is: Thank-you, thank-you!!

Mehal October 16, 2015

Wow, Seems like you have answered my endless question about the recipe and pans. I am a new business caker. thanks a ton.

inflytur July 5, 2015

Alice, thanks!
While trying to figure out if a pound cake recipe designed for a 10" tube would work in a 9"x5" loaf pan, I came across this page that lists the volume of many common (and uncommon) baking pans in cups.
http://thebakingpan.com/baking-pan-sizes/

Lani June 29, 2015

Hi would you simple multiply the baking powder/soda called for in the recipe?

Anne H. June 28, 2015

For us English and history majors, can you explain how to convert a recipe for a quick bread in a 9 x 5" pan to small mini loaves? I am wondering most about the cooking time.

Marianne December 24, 2015

Anne,

The short answer for baking time is anywhere from 25-40+ minutes baking time for mini loaves.

Why the range? It depends on: how many mini loaves are in the oven (the more pans, the longer it will take); the placement of the pans (space them out farther from each other for faster & more even baking); the size of the pan (mini pans come in a few different sizes); and the original cooking time of the recipe (some quick breads are done in 45 mins, others take 60+). I would suggest toothpick-testing the mini loaves after about 25 mins, then every 5 or so minutes after (unless the first test is super wet and you know it's going to take longer than 5 mins). I'm sure there's some sort of formula for calculating baking times in different pans, but it's not going to be a simple "original volume divided by new volume times original time" type of thing, especially since the density of the batter plays a huge role in baking time.

One 9"x5"x2.75-ish" loaf pan makes roughly three 5 3/4"x3 1/4"x2 1/4" mini loaves.

Don B. June 28, 2015

as a hill-billy child once told his mother after school one day, :ma, today we learned pi r square:. to which his mother replied, "pshaw, everbody know pi r round - cornbread are square!"

judy June 28, 2015

Thank you for the chart! I always thought you had to write the formula for the area of a circle as Pi x (4x4), ie 3.14 x 16 (4 squared). It came out to the correct number, and you explained it in the text, but writing 3.14 x 4 x 4 seemed confusing to me. Love your posts! J

AntoniaJames June 22, 2015

I must confess that I'm always looking for ways to do math in my kitchen. I really do. So most of this of I've figured out. (I am a big fan of o's ratio, method, by the way.) My cooking-related scribbles tend more often to be short equations and numeric solutions, rather than verbal comments. I do appreciate all of the other tips in this piece. Thank you, as always. ;o)

tucsonbabe June 22, 2015

For Jolynn,
Since 6 is 2/3 0f 9, using 2/3 of the ingredients should work. You would have to experiment with the cooking time.

drunkenboxer June 23, 2015

Area does not decrease linearly with diameter; it increases exponentially. That's the r^2 part of A=pi*r^2. Jolynn needs to use only half the ingredients to obtain a 6-inch cake of the same height.

Smaug June 22, 2015

You don't really need to calculate the volume, just the proportion- this saves you multiplying (and then dividing) by pi for a round pan. For example, to compare an 8" round pan to a 9", simply take the proportion of the square of the diameters- 64/81 (or VERY roughly 3/4).

sexyLAMBCHOPx June 22, 2015

helpful article!

Jolynn June 22, 2015

Wow, thanks for the tips! this post will surely come in handy in my future baking endeavours. But, since I have a small family of four (including me), I would usually prefer to make a smaller cake (especially for layered cakes) - 6 to 7 inch - but most recipes are for a 8''/9" cake pan. Do you know any way that I can convert a 9'' cake recipe to fit a 6'' one? Or will this method possibly work?

drunkenboxer June 23, 2015

This method will work. Using Alice's chart above, you can see that a 6-inch pan has an area of 29 sq in, and a 9-inch pan has an area of 64 sq in. Therefore, a 6-inch cake made to the same thickness as a 9-inch cake uses about half the ingredients. (29 is about half of 64.) As Alice mentioned, it might bake slightly faster, so keep an eye on it.

How to Use One Cake Pan For Any Baking Recipe

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