Hi everyone.

Here's my dilemma ...

I have a 16 inch round cake pan but I need a cake that's 17 inch in diameter. At first I thought of getting an 18 inch cake pan then cut it to size. But since my oven isn't big enough, scratch that idea.

So now I'm thinking of baking the 16 inch, then baking a half inch high sheet cake, then cut the sheet cake to the height of the 16 incher, then "wrap" and "attach" this to the 16 incher to increase its diameter (using some sort of "glue" to do so, maybe buttercream, royal icing, or something else). Then cover the whole thing with fondant.

Has anyone tried this before? And if so, how did it do?

Stories, suggestions, and ideas would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Why does it have to be exactly seventeen inches?

I am by no means an expert but I advise against that idea. I think it would make for unstable sides and you don't want to see those fall off. I don't know if wrapping the cake in a rice crispie ring would be any better. Maybe someone on here can give you a better structural idea.

I'm with the other poster - why 17"?

Does the finished cake need to be 17" or the pre-iced cake? If it's the finished cake, you should have no problem adding an extra inch or more to the 16" cake with buttercream alone!

Like the PP I am curious why it must be EXACTLY 17"... I would suggest baking an 8" square, cutting it into 1" wide strips, and placing them in the center of your cake like so...

Yes, it has to be exactly 17 inches because it will correspond to the number of servings needed, and because I need that size to give enough space (for flowers and other embellishments) between that layer and the layer on top.

The idea juleebug gave is the perfect solution

Juliebug's idea won't result in a perfect circle, however. It will be slightly oval.

Seriously, I'd make the bottom tier 18". Sometimes I'll provide extra cake, for MY convenience. The 18" pans are frequently half rounds and they'll fit in my smaller oven.

I think insead of trying to cut cake to go around the cake if you have to have that size why not bake sheet cakes and cut them to fit the size you need? that way you have bigger pieces of cake (think of how the half round works in the bigger size) rather than small pieces stuck around it that may shift and fall over.

I would provide slightly more cake and buy the 1/2 18" round that will fit into your oven. Better safe - and perfect - then unhappy with your results!

Putting strips in the middle will work if you 1/4 the round and put your 1inch long strip down the center and a short strip on either side of the long strip and perpendicular to the long strip. Your 1 inch strips will form a +.

Great work, grams. You're obviously much better at math than I am. I would have just added the strip in the center and told myself no one would notice it wasn't quite round.