I am ridiculously super new to cake decorating. In fact, I've decorated like five cakes in my entire life. I am signed up for the Wilton classes starting in March, but since I found this website about a week ago, I have pretty much done nothing in my spare time but read every detail!!! How do you know how much batter goes in a pan? LIke, if it's a sheet pan, how do I know if I need to double, triple, or more my typical cake recipe? I don't get how to figure out how much of your recipe you need depending on the pan size. Is there some kind of chart somewhere??? Thanks!

If you look in the back of a wilton book, it has the amount of batter you need for certain pan sizes. when you buy a pan it also has how many cups of batter it needs. I took the wilton class too and learned alot, but also learned so much from this site. everyone is really helpful. good luck.

I saved this from another post- hope it helps!

http://www.wilton.com/cakes/making-cakes/baking-wedding-cake-2-inch-pans.cfm

If you are a scratch baker then you should go by the chart found on the Wilton site that someone posted a link for in the previous post.

If you are interested in knowing about how many cake mixes for each size and shape pan, then I can help you with that. Just let me know!

Gayle
SE MI

Most of the cake pans you buy will have a cup-batter size. Be aware that scratch cakes will need more batter sometimes because of the density. I have a few recipes that I've had to double-up on because the pan size. It's helped make them fuller and also remember to use your inverted flower nail in the center.

Most cake mixes yield enough batter for a regular pan. So like if you were going to make a half sheet pan, the pan yield is about 14 cups batter.

Good luck with your baking. I think you will find it enjoyable. And remember like me, any disasters are usually still quite edible and tasty!! Neighbor kids love me!!

Hi, I never used any chart for my cakes, but each time I baked a cake, I wrote down how many "recipes" the pan took. for some pans, I make the recipe once, for others, I have to make 3 times the recipe. Now I have "my own" quantity chart, depending on the recipes I use, and of the pan sizes.
This works better for me than trying to figure out how many cups of batter I need, because it's not easy to measure how many cups each recipe make.
Hope this helps.


How does anyone know how many times to make the recipe, in order to have the right amount of cups of batter to fill a pan? I want to know, in case I ever needed this.

Thanks a lot.

Yes, this is something you will learn over time
I **NEVER!** measure by cup........oh so messy! and how accurate is it? Do you scrape every bit of batter out before filling again? Most people don't...so it can be very inaccurate
Fill your pan 2/3 full w/water then pour into measuring cup; make a list of size of pan & how much batter. Know that most box mixes yield 4.5 cups.......that is enough batter to fill one 10" round pan OR one 8" sq pan OR three 6" round pans OR one 12x8x2 sheet (and other sizes/shapes that I don't remember right off hand). You can write that on the bottom of the pan or make a list.
Each time you use a pan make notes - on the pan w/permanent pen or on a list.

If you're buying new Wilton pans to use, keep the liner that comes in it because on the back it tells the amount of batter to use, the number of servings you will get from the cake and bake times, etc. Also, on Wilton's site they have a great chart for the same info.

THank you all for the wonderful suggestions!! The link helped, but I think the suggestions about just creating my own personal list is probably the best. Again, thank you ALL for taking the time to reply!

I take cup by cup of water and fill the pan about 2/3rds full. That's how much batter you need for a pan you've never used! Then I take ziplock bags and line a 2 cup glass measuring cup with it and using a cookie scoop startt filling the bag with batter until the 2 cup line. I do this with a couple of bags until I have the requisite amount of batter. Close bags, snip off ends, fill up prepared baking tin with the pre-measured batter, and throw away my make-shift piping bags. Then keep a list of how many cups fit into that pan for next time!

Good luck.