Hi All~
I've been seeing a lot of pros lately using cake rings instead of pans to make their round wedding cakes.
Am I getting this right:
You bake in shallow sheets, then cut out the size with the ring, then stack and fill inside the ring to get a really crisp surface?
What is the benefit of this vrs pans? Are the cakes better, or more stable? Do you have square ones as well? Do you seem to waste a lot of cake with cutting them out?

I'm very intrigued!

I've never heard of this before! Sounds interesting!

I've seen that too. I was contemplating the same thing because I love the smooth shape of the cakes.

well apparently not many people use these things, or those that are have better things to do!
Oh well, I did some reading, and some people will cut the cakes out with these and some will just use them to build the cakes so the sides are straight. I think I may fall into the latter category, I don't have the funds to buy huge sheet pans and all my cakes are multiple flavors anyway.

I read somewhere that some people actually ice the insides of them, put the cake inside, chill it all, ice the top (while still in the ring), then use a hot towel or torch to release the cakes from the ring, which makes the cake perfectly smooth. I REALLY want to know if anyone here does THAT!!!

I noticed that the baker on Staten Island Cakes uses them. Before this show, I had never heard of them or seen them.

Just checked them out on Amazon, and Fat Daddios makes square ones.

I have done small cakes like this, but never regular sized. Sounds like a plan!

What the hell, that sounds so difficult! Not for me.

Yeah, I've seen the Staten Island Cakes guy do that too. I personally am not impressed with his work...or his show for that matter. But I've seen those cake rings used on other cake shows too...only just to cut the cakes out not fill them. It is intriguing.

I used them at my last job for tortes. I would "trim" an 8" round with the ring, that way all layers were even. It did create waste, but during the holidays the scraps were used for rum balls.


The rings are also used for baking, you would just create a bottom out of parchment and lay on sheet pans. They are used more for layered cakes with mousse, though.

These are used by Pastry Chefs to build cakes with elaborate loose fillings. Ever fill a cake with something light and loose, you make a good dam, but in the end it buldges anyway?

The theory is that you have gallons of filling made, hundreds of cakes sliced thin and then you can very quickly put together multiple cakes inside the rings, you place a board inside the ring and then assemble the thin layers of cake and thin filling. The whole thing sits on a sheet pan. Top off and seal all edges. Then, lets say you made 40 cakes and then put them into the cooler. Then you need 10 cakes a day for 4 days, you just pull what you need, heat the outside, pop out the cake, it's cold and set. Finish quickly and you are good to go with 10 cakes in a very short amount of time.

This method is best with cakes that will be kept chilled anyway.

Also, let's say that your bakery only bakes in sheets, never in rounds to size. You probably already have recipes to use cake scraps, so you just have the rings in the sizes you use. Cut the cake with the ring and assemble. It saves all the time prepping cake pans for baking, and washing them. Big operations like this have ware washers for sheet pans to save labor scrubbing cake pans. You don't have to worry about the baker screwing up the order for certain sized cakes. They bake in sheets only, you worry about the size.

If you make a specialty cake with a real French Bavarian (gelatin based) that is VERY liquid when made, but sets up in the cooler you would want to put your cake together like this. I am probably going to get a few eventually because right now I use old Springform rings for my Bavarian cakes. My Strawberry one is lovely and I think I will market it more when I'm finally up and running. If you want to make a lot of one cake size these save time and money, but if you bake your sizes and use the 2-inch cake, or even just torte once you can get by using a cake pan to build a cake like this, or my way with an old springform ring.

Tami

Jenmat--I know it's been a couple of years since you posted your question, but I just came across this thread. I saw a video tutorial on YouTube a while ago and the pastry chef used a cake ring lined with acetate film, with a cardboard cake circle the diameter of the ring placed in the bottom. The cake was about 1/2"-3/4" smaller than the diameter of the ring and board. He centered the cake in the prepared ring mold, then piped buttercream into the sides until he reached the level of the cake. Then he piped a dam to fill the cake with some filling, centered the next cake layer, piped more icing on the sides, repeated. He had three layers of cake and two of filling. He topped the cake with the buttercream and smoothed it to the top of the ring. He then removed the ring, then chilled the cake, then removed the acetate. Voila, a smooth sided, sharp edge iced cake. I couldn't find the video, but I found one where the chef is making a mousse cake (the only difference is that this is a product video, meaning you have a lot of product description; also, the chef poked down the sides to make sure there were no air bubbles in the mousse--make sure your piped buttercream is not stiff and be sure to "over pipe". By that I mean to be very generous as you pipe). Here is the mousse cake tutorial.