Hello everyone. I wanted to know what size/type/brand cake pans are absolutley necessary for a baker/ decorator? I don't know much about sizing and servings you get per cake ect. Where can I find this information? As of now I only have two cake pans and I don't even remember their dimensions

Hi,
I'd say in a cake pan collection, you would need a variety of round tins, square tins, rectangle tins and maybe a loaf tin, a cupcake pan wouldn't hurt either, I don't bother with novelty pans, normally they are just used once and never again, unless you're always making a castle cake!
little round tins are good to have, 5 inchs, the pans I have are like, a ickle 5 inch , an 8 inch, a 9 inch but if you're going to make wedding cakes, you would need the 3 tier pans a big one for the bottom, a middle and a little top one. I have two of each size aswell to make layered cakes.
I'm from the uk, so I get my pans from different sources, not like wilton in the us, non- stick are the best, I got a 5 inch nonstick pan for £1!!! in poundland and its one of the best pans I have!!
Have a nosy at wilton,
http://search.wilton.com/?q=pan

hope this helps.

The Fat Daddio pans are really good too. If you go into any good cake decorating store they'll have a display of cake pans. Williams Sonoma has some very good ones; but they are very pricey. I like mine to have good weight; I find the baking is more even. Heavier pans are less like to bend out of shape as well.

Magic Line, hands down. You will not regret buying the best tools.

Thanks for all the advice ladies! As of right now I want to focus on getting the basics down so I will not be doing any wedding cakes anytime soon lol. Lady Tangerine what are Wilton's regular pans? Would that include their decorator's preferred and performance pans? Leah_S I will look into the Magic Line pans. what is the normal price range for these pans? I know sometimes the pricing can be very different depending on what website you go to so I am just asking for a ball park figure before I purchase them and find out I paid way too much lol.

I'd say both Wilton's Decorator's Preferred and Performance Pans (for lack of a better word) suck, although I've heard a few people say the Performance Pans aren't that bad. Either way, I'd avoid both at all costs. Wilton's quality just doesn't compare with Magic Line or Fat Daddios or other brands.

As for pricing, I'm going to stick my two cents here and say the most decent prices I've personally seen are on Global Sugar Art.

I prefer magic line but like other have said, fat daddio is also good, but the have more rounded corners than magic line, especially in the squares. I also like magic line because it's a local company (Los Angeles area), but I've yet to get around to their store.

If you're just starting out, I recommend getting two 6 inch and two 9 inch pans, they're your basic small and large cakes.

Magic Line first, Fat Daddio second. That being said, I do own Wilton's doll, heart and sports ball pans that I have used over and over again. What I really would like more than anything in the world is to find the very old discontinued Lambath pans Wilton produced. But if found, I probably couldn't afford them anyway. LOL

But since you are just starting out, 8 inch rounds seem to be the perfect start. As far as serving charts, I use Earlene's: http://www.earlenescakes.com/ckserchart.htm

Thank you all for the advice. I have decided to try out the Magic Line pans only round for now but now I'm not sure if I should get the 3 in deep or the 2 in deep. I have in my cart 6X3,8X3,9X3,and 12X3 totaling $64.04 with free shipping on 8 pans.

I am curious on this too... how deep are the pans you guys use?

2" or 3"

2"

I am very happy with my Fat Daddio pans. I have a few Wilton pans I still use. Those are ok, but the Fat Daddios are definitely nicer. I would love to be able to afford the Williams-Sonoma Goldtouch but $25 for per 8 inch pan is just not going to happen.

I always use 2", but you will find people who love the 3" ones. What have you baked with in the past?

With a 2" pan, you will usually bake 2 - 2" layers with a filling between them to get a 4" standard tier.

From what I've seen, people who use 3" pans will bake 1 cake, tort it in thirds, and put filling between each layer, so there are 2 layers of filling and 3 layers of cake for a standard 4" tier. Does that make sense?

It seems that a lot of American bakers use 2" and a lot of European bakers use 3", although that is just an observation and not a rule of any kind.

Magic Line- I have 9 inch, 6 inch, 8 inch square (2 each- 2 inch deep) and one 10x15 jelly roll pan(one inch deep.) If I were to do three tiered cakes, I would add 12 inch rounds.

These can be ordered from Amazon. They're prices are reasonable, and you can get free shipping for orders over $25.

Thanks for the advice Shandra & Narie. I was being a bit hasty and ordered already lol . The 8 inch I ordered was because someone said that it would be a good starting size. How would 6,9,12 look as a three tier? I probably won't be doing more than 2 tiers anytime soon anyway and if I like the way these bake I will go back and order the 2" deep pans as well. Next time I will wait for answers before jumping the gun . I just get so excited about new toys

The reason I stated 8" is it is really nice as one tier cake. It doesn't seem to big and when you put it on a 10" round drum you have just enough room to put a border. Try to find an 11" drum at your local cake shop? Special order! Now I started with an 8", but I have two of each 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12 inch rounds, but most the time I reach for the 8". In squares I have two of each 6, 8, 10, and 12 but most the time reach for the 8". In novelty pans I have a 8" heart, 10" heart and a retired fluted heart, a sports ball, and the Wilton Doll pan that I use all the time. But in the shaped pans I always reach for the 8" heart. They are easy to handle, turn out, torte and level. I can usually use my hand to flip them around, and they tend to serve enough people at a small gathering. If I need bigger I rent them.

Now if you plan on really large gatherings or weddings, I suggest you get a 1/2 sheet pan and 6, 9, 12 as they seem to be perfect for many parties and anything smaller than a 6" is hard to cover in fondant. HTH