Half sheet sized cake

[jphilg]

Been a long, long time since I posted....

I need a half sheet cake for a birthday party, two layers of chocolate cake filled with buttercream and fresh raspberries. I know that pro would bake the cake in a 3" deep pan and torte it to get two layers. But I only have 1" deep half sheets. Can I bake two layers in the 1" pans, and then stack them? Or am I asking for a huge bubble-over mess on my oven floor?

Also, does anyone know how many cups of cake batter for a half sheet?

Thanks. Off to look for the thread on the definitive chocolate cake!

--Jen

[CanadianBakin']

Here's the link - http://www.pastryscoop.com/member/liu_pan.html - for pan volumes.

No problem at all baking cake in a sheet pan. If you're worried about it spilling over just line the bottom of your oven with foil.

With the combination you're doing it would be good to use whipping cream with the raspberries for filling and just ice the outside with buttercream.

The chocolate cake recipe in the "Best of" thread that is from epicurious.com doesn't dome much so it would be a good option for baking in a sheet pan.

[jphilg]

Thank you so much!

[CanadianBakin']

I just remembered that I had the quantities on file that I use for one half-size sheet pan. It's 2/3 of the recipe.

2 ounces semisweet chocolate

8 1/2 fluid ounces water

2 tsp instant coffee powder

14 ounces sugar

7 1/2 ounces all-purpose flour

3 1/4 ounces cocoa

1 1/3 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

7/8 teaspoon salt

3 7/8 fluid ounces vegetable oil

8 1/2 fluid ounces buttermilk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 large eggs

[sanrensho]

^^^Did you find the recipe difficult to work with as a sheet layer? I got the impression that this recipe was very moist and possibly delicate to work with, unlike the foam-based cakes that I usually bake.

Of course, freezing might be a way around that.

[CanadianBakin']

^^^Did you find the recipe difficult to work with as a sheet layer? I got the impression that this recipe was very moist and possibly delicate to work with, unlike the foam-based cakes that I usually bake.

Of course, freezing might be a way around that.

←

It's been quite awhile since I've used it this way but I don't remember it being difficult. However, I imagine a foam-based cake would be stronger/more flexible.

edited to say: I just remembered what I used that size for... It was for individual desserts that were made up of 2 squares of chocolate cake, coffee mousse piped in the middle, covered with a glossy chocolate glaze and topped with chocolate curls and a dusting of icing sugar. Each sheet cake was cut into 24 or so pieces. So I guess I've never used it as a full sheet and you're right in thinking it may be a bit difficult to work with. I guess freezing it would be the best bet. If I remember correctly it says to cool the cakes in their pans so they could go right into the freezer after cooling and would be easy to remove onto a cake board. Sorry, I'm blabbing on a bit...we did remove the cakes from the pans without freezing and before cutting them and I don't recall having any problems with them cracking.

Edited May 30, 2007 by CanadianBakin' (log)