Hello,

I am a complete newbie baking a wedding cake for a good friend.  It is a fairly large crowd -- about 200 guests -- and I have been researching how large my tiers need to be (planning a round cake, very simple filling, and rough buttercream-look frosting).  Based on Wilton's website, it looks like I should plan to do maybe a 16-inch, 12-inch, 8-inch, and then maybe a 6 or 4 for the top?  I've baked a 12-inch successfully before, but am a little skeptical about a 16 inch fitting in my oven.  Does anyone have any experience using half pans (the kind that are half circle)?  Also, do my tier sizes seem correct? I have plenty of time to keep practicing, so any comments will be much much appreciated.

Thanks!

I have used the 9" half pans and they work fine for me. I have seen it suggested that when you make your second layer of the cake, that you turn them so they form a criss-cross for stability.

As for the tier sizes, when picturing your cake, I think that a 4 inch cake would look better than a 6 proportionally. Just my opinion!

Good luck. :)

AThanks so so much! I never would have thought to criss cross them but that makes a lot of sense!

I agree on the 4 inch for the top since your other tiers have a 4 inch difference as well. also it is easier to fit in the freezer for the bride and groom. if you have a standard oven a 16 in should fit and bake fine but keep in mind to use baking strips and a heating core for your 12 and 16 inch layers . I make sure to soak my baking strips in ice water and put them on right before I put my layers in the oven it really does make a difference in the baking . good luck with your cake :)

I agree the cake strips are worth the investment! plus the heating core. I use them all the time. The only half pan I use is an 18". The 16 fits fine in the oven, but for better baking I don't put anything else on the top rack while I'm baking a 16. In my oven, it lows down the cooking time of the larger cakes and I end up not happy with the consistency of the cake. Happy Baking!

Thanks to all!!
 

May I suggest when you make that 4" top tier, you make it only 2 or 3" tall?  When I make a 6" round it looks much better only 3" tall so I'm thinking a 4"er will also.  If you make it 4" tall (2 layers) it will look much taller than the others.  It is an illution(sp?) but if you test this out w/pans or such you will see what I'm talking about.

As for 1/2 round pans - my experience (some 25 yrs ago) was that the pan was NOT actually cut in 1/2 :(

When ever I used it to make a perfect round (not an oval) I had to cut a 1" strip of cake to put between the two halves :( 

I agree with Kakeladi, The half rounds do not yield a perfectly round cake. I have the 16" half rounds and the few times I have used them they have requires a strip of cake in the seam to make a perfect circle. Quite a pain to deal with...

AThanks very much for the suggestions and tips!