Quite Possibly The Dumbest Sheet Cake Question Ever...
Decorating By Rhienn Updated 17 Jul 2008 , 6:27pm by Rhienn
I've got an order for a half sheet cake this weekend. I never make them but didn't want to turn down the business.
Do I just bake a full sheet (my full sheet pans are barely 1" deep), cut it down the center and use each side as a layer? Anyone have any success with this?
AND - what the heck do you build the cakes in? I use my cake pans to build my layer cakes but obviously don't have anything deep enough to do the same with the sheet cake.
Sometimes the simplest logistics totally escape me...
Since I didn't need a lot of servings for the cake I recently made for my m-i-l's birthday (Jimmy Choo shoe box) I did what you're suggesting, basically; I made an 8" square, cut it down the middle, added filling on top of what became the bottom and added the other side to the top. It worked fine.
I've never "built" a cake in a pan. I usually tort and (try to remember to) mark a spot on the cake so I put them back together 'correctly', then I put the bottom on a cake board (using some bc as 'glue'), then dam/fill and replace the upper half to the top. I always crumb coat.
HTH
You line your cake pan with plastic wrap and then "build" your cake in it, (1st layer of cake- drench with syrup - pipe in filling - 2nd layer of cake, etc.) then fridge or freezer it to set up. It's great, you get super straight sides and a level cake.
When you take it out of the fridge/freezer, just flip it onto your board, lift off the cake pan and peel off the plastic wrap. No oozing filling, super straight sides, level cake, etc.
I kind of thought all the pros did it that way... 
I kind of thought all the pros did it that way
Some of the pros do it this way. I don't build my standard cakes like this, but I di use cake rings to build mousse cakes, cream cakes and other cakes/desserts that have layers that need to set in the fridge before they can be unmolded, or something with delicate/fragile layers. I don't bother doing this for a regular layer cake though.
Most here probably use a 2" (or more) deep sheet cake pan, but you CAN use the type of sheet pan you have. Just be aware the cake will bake very quickly. You would probably need to bake two of those sheet pans and as you mentioned, cut in half and then use those thin layers to build what would essentially give you the same result as a larger torted cake.
Huh! Many of us are not pros. Many of us are self taught. Sounds like an interesting technique. How deep are the pans you're working with to build the cakes?
Basically a jelly-roll pan, full or half sheet size (maybe 1/2" deep... don't have one right here to measure the depth). I have a lot of recipes that do not stand up to being baked in a standard cake pan (delicate cakes that would collapse if baked as a 2 or 3" layer), so they are baked in a thin layer just as you would a cake for a jelly roll and then I use a cake ring to cut the appropriate size circles and build the cake with the layers of filling inside the ring.
Basically a jelly-roll pan, full or half sheet size (maybe 1/2" deep... don't have one right here to measure the depth). I have a lot of recipes that do not stand up to being baked in a standard cake pan (delicate cakes that would collapse if baked as a 2 or 3" layer), so they are baked in a thin layer just as you would a cake for a jelly roll and then I use a cake ring to cut the appropriate size circles and build the cake with the layers of filling inside the ring.
This is pretty much what the pros at our kitchen do too... I've just not ever witness the building of a sheet cake, for some reason.
Do you happen to know how much cake batter it takes to fill one of those full sheet pans?
I've never actually built a sheet cake this way either, but if that is the equipment you have, it can definitely be done. No I don't have a specific batter amount, as the recipes I use are already scaled to the correct size pan (half or full sheet) so there's no guesswork for me lol.
Huh! Many of us are not pros. Many of us are self taught. Sounds like an interesting technique. How deep are the pans you're working with to build the cakes?
Generally use my 3" pans. I collar them if I need a taller cake.
I've never actually built a sheet cake this way either, but if that is the equipment you have, it can definitely be done. No I don't have a specific batter amount, as the recipes I use are already scaled to the correct size pan (half or full sheet) so there's no guesswork for me lol.
Dang! I'm a scratch baker too... but I generally only make round or square cakes. My business is cupcakes, but I do a lot of side cakes for parties and wedding cutting. So, I've "figured" all my recipes to my standard rounds/squares. 
wow, "building" a cake sounds like a lot more work than I want to do! 
Do you have to wrap and freeze because the syrup you put on it kinda sogs it up or something? I've never used a syrup on my cakes, so I've no idea why it's used or what it does, so please excuse my ignorance on this one. 
No - the soaking syrup doesn't affect the integrity of the cake. I don't think it's any more work than building it outside of the pan. I just drop the layers in and then pipe in the filling. It's kind of insurance that my sides will be straight. I never get bulging filling or leaning tower of cake this way. Most of my fillings are softer - mousses or cream cheese based - so they can be squidgy before I chill them.
Rhienn, I do exactly everything like you do.
I build my cakes in the pan, soak the layers with syrup, make a dam, spread the fillings, and if the cake is going to be taller than the pan is (my cakes are always 4 inch high), I use an aluminun flashing collar to help to keep the cake edges really straight.
Cover the whole thing with aluminum foil or plastic wrap, refrigerate, and in the next day, unmold it.
Building a cake is a good thing! 
I'm far from being an expert, but it just sounds as if the "building" method would leave you with a seeping filling when the cake comes to room temperature. Does this not happen?
Not at all. I'm using the exact same "componants" as everyone else. Same cake, same soaking syrup, same fillings. The only difference is that the cake gets put together in a cake pan instead of on the counter. And I get perfectly straight sides, every time.
Once the cake has chilled, I flip it out of the pan and crumb coat it. Chill it to set the buttercream (I don't use a crusting bc - strictly SMBC) and then ice it as usual.
Sometimes if I am doing just a small (6-8") cake, I'll coat the inside of then cake ring with buttercream, then build the cake inside of that. Smooth of the top with buttercream & chill. Once you unmold you have a perfectly smooth & square frosted cake with no additional smoothing required!
Here a 1/2 sheet is 12x18 & serves about 74. I know for my 3" deep I just did I used 21 cups of batter. Here is a link that has batter amounts for 2" & 3" pans. HTH
http://www.cakecentral.com/article15-Cake-Baking-Cutting--Serving-Guide---3-in-Deep-Pans.html
http://www.cakecentral.com/article14-Cake-Baking-Cutting--Serving-Guide---2-in-Deep-Pans.html
For the "building" method you can also use a cooking pan with tall sides.
For exemplo, if you baked your cake in 10 inch pans, you can build it in a 10" cooking pan.
Don't ever forget to cover the botton of your "building" pan with some plastic wrap, aluminum foil or wax paper, for easy release.
Uh - not to divert from the cake building talk... but, really? No one has made a sheet cake the way I'm planning before? I sure hope it doesn't tank, I've got orders coming out of my ears this weekend and having to rebake might send me over the edge!
Hello Rhienn,
Of course you can use a full-sheet pan. Just measure the baked cake very well, cut down the center and as you said and use them as layers.
You'll end up with a half-sheet cake with two layers of cake and one filling.
There's no need to "build" it inside of a pan. I have done it many times.
Even with more layers. If after stacked you think that cake is not even, just trim it a little with a knife before crumb coating.
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