# Cake Baking Times



## beccajeanbean (Mar 14, 2012)

Dear Forum

Thank you for your help in advance!  I have baked several cakes from scratch in the past, but i've always followed the recipes EXACTLY, so i don't have a lot of independent baking knowledge...if i deviate from a recipe i have no clue.  i would like to try a banana cake recipe for my boyfriend's birthday that i found online.  it says to bake the cake in a 9X13 pan (they don't give a depth dimension...) at 275 degrees, for an hour.  i was wondering what the baking time would equate to if i was using two 9X1.5 inch round cake pans.  how full should i fill them so they don't overflow - halfway?  sorry if i sound like a silly layman but...I AM!  i also read reviews where people said they upped the baking time to 375, and i don't know which time to go with!   i was trying to contact the person who posted the recipe but it won't let me join the site for some reason.  Thanks again,

sincerely,

Becca


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

Generally a 9x13 cake pan is easily substituted by two 9 inch diameter round pans.  The only difference is that you cook the layers a shorter time. 
The baking temperature is EXTREMELY low and i would be wary of this recipe.  Many recipes are posted on line, like so much disinformation, because anyone can post anything.  They may have typos and other mistakes, or the person may not really know the amounts of ingredients or the actual temperature and be guessing. 

I have a wonderful banana cake, really exceptional, but it requires a single 9 inch diameter 2 inch high cake pan or springform pan.  If you have one of these i can send it to you.  It comes from a book whcih is tried and true, and i;ve made it many times.  It's from Rose Levy Beranbaum's "Cake Bible" and is called "Cordon Rose Banana Cake"

you might even find it if you put it in quotes on google.  Not sure. 

but you need a higher pan.  I think it owuld come out dry if you made it in two layers - this makes one thick cake that you can divide into two layers.  One of my favorite cakes and always a hit.


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## beccajeanbean (Mar 14, 2012)

thank you siduri.  i wonder if i could double the recipe you suggested so that i might make the two-layer cake i'd planned on, using the pans i already have (while having a bit of batter left over, as my pans are a half inch less deep)...it'd be much easier to make due with what i've got.  thank you for the recipe idea, i'll look into it (you can send it to me if you like, or i could try looking it up.)  but then again, i'd have a similar dilemma - how much baking time difference would the half-inch result in?? i have no idea!


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## indygal (Dec 7, 2010)

I too suspect this baking time.   I don't think it would hurt a thing to pump it up to at least 325º or so.

The way I judge cooking time on caks is

1. visual inspection.  when done, the cake is usually pulling away from the sides a bit

2. touch test.  I slide it out a way and shake it, to see if anything is jiggling in the center, in which case it is not done.  If it does not jiggle, I touch the very center top to see if it leaves finger indentations.  if so, it isn't done, if too firm, you've overcooked it. 

Just my way, I'm sure others do the knife or toothpick thing, but these work for me.

D


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## beccajeanbean (Mar 14, 2012)

Thank you so much you guys!  That's all great advice.  I suppose I could be a bit brave and cook it just so long and check it, then cook it more in small increments until it's right.  My two real-time friends told me between 20 and 30 minutes, no more.  I just have so little experience to judge these things by, and once you burn something you can't go back!!!  I'm not an easy going baker - I enjoy making things for people for special occasions, but I get VERY easily flustered and stressed when cooking/baking/multi-tasking, especially when I have to deviate from a plan...it's kind of sad lol.  Thanks again!  BF's birthday is at the end of March - I'll try to check back and let you know how it goes


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