I have several questions about sheet cakes, some of them might be a little silly. Any help is greatly appreciated.
I am making a half sheet 12x18x2.
Is it supposed to be 1 layer or 2 layers?
The servings chart says 2 layers, but the the cake store I bought my pan from said that you are not supposed to do 2 layers with sheet cakes (?) Is this correct??
How do you transfer the sheet cake from the pan to the cooling rack and then to the cake board without it breaking. I seem to be doing it the hard way, lol.
How do you tort and fill the sheet cake without it breaking?
Any other tips on working with sheet cakes would also be appreciated! TIA
You can make 2 layers if you want, especially for a wedding or grooms cake. The best way I think is to freeze your layers, that way you can pick them up and handle them easier. If you are wanting to just torte the one layer , once you slice the cake in half, slide a cake board under the cake so it will come off on the board, then ice your bottom. You then slide your cut half that is on the board over the top of the iced bottom. Does that make sense to you? A 2 layer sheet is perfectly acceptable.
I have several questions about sheet cakes, some of them might be a little silly. Any help is greatly appreciated.
I am making a half sheet 12x18x2.
Is it supposed to be 1 layer or 2 layers?
The servings chart says 2 layers, but the the cake store I bought my pan from said that you are not supposed to do 2 layers with sheet cakes (?) Is this correct??
How do you transfer the sheet cake from the pan to the cooling rack and then to the cake board without it breaking. I seem to be doing it the hard way, lol.
How do you tort and fill the sheet cake without it breaking?
Any other tips on working with sheet cakes would also be appreciated! TIA
It can be as many layers as you want them to be, but be aware this will increase the number of servings for the sheet, so price accordingly. I always suggest the servings for a 12x18 would be:
2x3" pieces = 64 servings (single layer)
2x2" pieces = 96 servings (single layer)
1x3" pieces = 128 servings (double layer)
Remember the 2-layer cake is double the height, so don't let the 1x3 dimension look like a smaller piece.
Transferring to cool: If the cake domes a little during baking (use baking strips or the nail method to help reduce this), I trim the cake while it's in the pan, using the pan edges as a guide. This gives me a flat surface so I can safely flip it onto a 16x20 cooling rack. (Lay the rack on top of the pan. Grab both sides of the pan (and the rack) with potholders and flip it upside down.) I have multiple cooling racks of this size, so I flip it again onto another rack .... the cake is now sitting on it's bottom with the trimmed top on top. When it's cool, I just lay the cardboard on top of this cake and flip. Now the bottom of the cake is facing up for a smooth surface!
Torting is easier than you think. I use the Wilton leveler to tort the layer. Then I slide a large cardboard between the torted layers to remove the top layer. Add your filling then, with the top layer still on the cardboard, just let the cake slide right back onto the filled layer. I can't explain why the cardboard works better than a cooling rack, but it's flawless!
Be sure your cake is on a masonite board or something just as strong. If I can't use my masonite boards, then I use a minumum of 3 cardboards taped together and wrapped in a decorative paper.
If any of this is confusing, please let me know and I will do my best to clarify. I know stuff like this can be confusing when you're trying to write it down.
Thank you so much for the replies!
cupcake--do you wrap the cake in saran wrap before freezing? How do you wrap it up without it breaking? Or do you slightly freeze it first unwrapped so that it is easier to handle and then wrap it up and freeze thoroughly? After I torte & fill it and place the top part back on, do I have to wait to frost it until it is completely defrosted?
indydebi--thank you so much for the detail. I am definitely doing things the hard way, lol. I need to get more than 1 cooling rack. I flipped it out from the pan to the cooling rack (so then it was upside down). You should have seen me trying to figure out how to get it right side up on the cooling rack when I only have 1!! lol. Now I know for next time. 
I only just started recently doing sheet cakes, I got a 1/4 sheet cake pan... and I thought I'd need 2 layers (So 4" high), but when I made it, I realized that would look kind of silly, way too thick... and thats way bigger than a regular sheet cake at the store.... so I decided to just torte & fill one 2" high sheet cake, both times the cakes came out a great size.... The Good Luck cake, and the Racing Car cake in my pictures. I guess its whatever you decide... but I like the way a 2" sheet cake torted, filled & frosted looks.
I was wondering about this too... is there an official height for the sheet cake?
Lots of good suggestions already posted
There is one o ther way to fill a sheet besides torting.......injection!
If the filling is smooth (no pieces of fruit etc) you can use a bag & tip; push the tip into the c ake & squeeze; do this about every 2".
In many areas sheet cakes are never filled.
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