Great Tip About How Much Batter To Use
Decorating By msulli10 Updated 11 Nov 2009 , 5:40pm by adree313
It is definitely an awesome tip. I was just laughing at her deadpan remark. 
It's also how you determine how much oil you need in your turkey frying rig, lest you overfill the pot with oil and then catch your house on fire when the oil overflows and ignites. 
It's a Southern thang. LOL
you fry the turkey IN YOUR house?? I always thought it had to be done outside (best turkey EVER)
As for the filling of the pans...........I keep thinking I'm gonna make a note as to how many scoops (of my ice cream scooper) I need for each cake pan and then keep a list but when I get baking I forget! lol
I'll have to try to the water trick, I find that the wilton chart seems to underestimate the cake batter for the pans unless my cakes don't rise enough ( I like the cake to rise slightly above the pan so I can push it down when it comes out and make it level with the depth of the pan)
The Wilton chart does not provide the same depth of batter for the various sized pans. I tested and proved this just a few weeks ago when I got my new set of ML 2" pans, using this same water and the measuring cup method. I made myself an Excel chart of how much batter it took to fill each pan to a certain depth (1"). I forget how much the difference was, but it was noticeable.
I've only done the round pans, still have the square and oblong to do.
The Wilton chart isn't accurate to Magic Line pans. I'm baking a 9 x 13 (2inch) cake right now. The Wilton chart says to use 6 cups batter. I used almost 8 cups and the cake has rose about 1/4 inch above the pan, which is about perfect for me. I like to have 2 inch layers when I level the cake. I usually just try to fill my pans about 2/3rds full.
I just came across a great tip - don't know why I couldn't figure this one out.
If you need to know how much batter to use in a pan, just use your measuring cup to pour water into the pan and note how many cups it takes to fill the pan !
I have done exactly that. I only rely on the Wilton chart for serving amounts. I had to "see" exactly how much I was putting in. Very visual person, am I.
i like to weigh the batter as opposed to using cups. i always feel like i'm doing it wrong with the cups because i don't always get all the batter out. i've also found that the wilton chart isn't always accurate for me. when i weigh out the batter i make note of it on my recipes. works like a charm! (for me at least )
The Wilton chart isn't accurate to Magic Line pans. I'm baking a 9 x 13 (2inch) cake right now. The Wilton chart says to use 6 cups batter. I used almost 8 cups and the cake has rose about 1/4 inch above the pan, which is about perfect for me. I like to have 2 inch layers when I level the cake. I usually just try to fill my pans about 2/3rds full.
Yes!! Me too!
i like to weigh the batter as opposed to using cups. i always feel like i'm doing it wrong with the cups because i don't always get all the batter out. i've also found that the wilton chart isn't always accurate for me. when i weigh out the batter i make note of it on my recipes. works like a charm! (for me at least
)
I love the idea of weighing the batter, when I split my batter between 2-8" pans for instance, I always weigh them to make sure they're the same (kinda ocd I Think)
Anyhow, I was wondering how the weights differ with say a white cake batter vs. a chocolate batter? I mean, when I put for instance 3 cups of white cake batter in my 6" round pan, and put 3 cups of choc. cake batter in it...the choc. always raises more..........BUT the choc. batter FEELS heavier...so I wonder if weighing it would alleviate the difference...what do you think?? Am I way (I almost typed WEIGH) overthinking this?
I tend to eyeball my cake batter, which 1 out of every 10 times results in my either having a shallow cake, or batter on the bottom of the oven. I really need to try ONE of these methods.
Or, look at the Wilton chart.
I can't bake without the Wilton chart, so far it works perfectly every time for me 
I do use Magic Line pans mostly. The water tip is awesome though and I think I will do that and mark amounts on the bottoms of all of my pans so I always know, thank you!
People actually measure batter?
Really? No kidding? Huh! 
Yep. And it's neither good nor bad. It's just the way people are wired. Some are picky and finicky and precise, some shoot from the hip and fly by the seat of their pants. Neither group chooses to be the way they are, they just are.
People actually measure batter?
Really? No kidding? Huh! Yep. And it's neither good nor bad. It's just the way people are wired. Some are picky and finicky and precise, some shoot from the hip and fly by the seat of their pants. Neither group chooses to be the way they are, they just are.
Amen. 
"Bakers are born, not made. We are exacting people who delight in submitting ourselves to rules and formulas if it means achieving repeatable perfection"
Rose Levy Beranbaum
It's funny, I have a degree in engineering - it's part of the way I'm wired... I find baking to be therapeutic, partly because of the precision and consistency.
That said, I fly by the seat of my pants when it comes to filling a cake pan. I tried measuring, but that drove me nuts because every cup was NOT the same if I didn't take the time to scrape all of the batter out/off. And eighting woul be OK, but batters vary in density nd how they rise, so you need to havve different measures ofr iefferent recipes - No thanks! I grew up eyeballing it with cakes, so I'm used to being abole to say "when".
i'm terrible at eyeballing any type of measurement lol.
as for the weight differences... some batters are definitely heavier than others. that's why each of my different recipes has different weight notes at the bottom.
i don't think it's that really big of a deal or some huuuuuge extra step. it takes no time at all and i just like to make sure everything's even. hey, every little bit helps when you're first starting out and trying to make your cakes look like the ones here on CC!!
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