# Scaling up a (Delia Smith) cake recipe



## acover4422 (Jun 16, 2013)

Can anyone give me some pointers? I'm looking to make a three-tier cake for my daughter's first birthday party. I'm thinking a 12" round chocolate base, a 10" round vanilla middle, and a 6" round carrot cake top. Each layer will have buttercream frosting and then fondant icing.

I love Delia Smith's recipes: in fact, that's all I ever use. Does anyone have any pointers on how to scale up her recipes?

Also, will a chocolate cake (with buttercream and fondant) be strong enough to hold two layers above?


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## petemccracken (Sep 18, 2008)

acover4422 said:


> ...Also, will a chocolate cake (with buttercream and fondant) be strong enough to hold two layers above?


Yes, with posts and platforms (cake base circles), I would NOT try it without some form of support.

BTA, WTHDIK, I'm not a baker /img/vbsmilies/smilies/rollsmile.gif


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## acover4422 (Jun 16, 2013)

Hi,

Is this what you mean by posts and supports?

http://www.weddingcakesbydesign.com/traditional_white.html

Because I was actually trying to recreate this:


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https://flic.kr/p/7975114989


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## petemccracken (Sep 18, 2008)

The one you want uses wooden dowels, or something similar, and cake circles.

The dowels, probably three per layer, are cut to a length that matches the thickness of the lower layer and the cake circle diameter is slightly less than the diameter of the next higher layer. Repeat this for the second layer.

Say the cakes are 12"d x 3"h, 10"d x 3"h, and 8"d x 3" high.

The bottom layer sits on either a 12"d cake circle or cake plate, for the rest, you need six, 3" wooden dowels/sturdy straws and two cake circles, one just under 10"d and one just 8"d.

Center the 10" cake circle on the 12"d cake (before frosting) and trace a line into the cake around the circle. Remove the cake circle and push three (3) of the wooden dowels into the 12"d cake staying inside the traced circle. Place a dollop of frosting in the center of the 12"d cake, then place the 10" cake circle centered on the 12"d cake, it should rest on the three dowels.

Repeat the process for the next layer.

Now, there is no additional weight on any layer yet each layer appears to rest on the layer below.

Of course, a REAL cake baker will show up shortly and explain it far better than I can.


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## acover4422 (Jun 16, 2013)

Aaaaah, you are brilliant! Thank you! So glad I checked: I was just going to stack the cakes on top of each other /img/vbsmilies/smilies/redface.gif

Any pointers on the scaling up?

Delia Smith's recipe for a vanilla sponge cake, for those who aren't familiar, is 4oz flour, 4oz sugar, 4oz butter, and two eggs, for a (I believe) 7-inch pan. I've never had a 7-inch tin, so I always use 6oz of flour, butter, and sugar and 3 eggs for my 9-inch (I believe) tin. Do I just add another 2oz of butter, flour and sugar and another 1 egg per 2-inch size increase?


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## petemccracken (Sep 18, 2008)

The volume of cake pans varies by the _square_ of the radius (1/2 of the diameter) of the cake pan, assuming the same height of the pans.

So, if you think of a 7" cake pan as 1, the ratio of the volumes of the other cakes pans is:

6" = 0.73 times 7" volume or approximately 3/4 of the 7"
7" = 1
9" = 1.66 times 7" volume or approximately 1 2/3 of the 7"
10" = 2.00 or double the 7"
12" = 2.94 times the 7" or approximately 3 of the 7"
If the 7" is a 4-4-4-2 of flour, sugar, butter, eggs, then the amounts for the other pan sizes are:

6" = 3-3-3-1 1/2
9" = 6 5/8-6 5/8-6 5/8-3 5/16, I'd probably round to 7-7-7-3 1/2
10" = 8-8-8-4
12" = 12-12-12-6
Come on bakers! Bale me out, I'm OK at the math but cakes are not my forté


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## kokopuffs (Aug 4, 2000)

I find myself doing these same mathematics when it comes to using my assortment of tart pans, to scale up or down a recipe!


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## acover4422 (Jun 16, 2013)

My math is TERRIBLE. Pete McCracken, do you mind converting the following from a 9" tin to a 12, 10 and *8*" tin for me:

- Baking powder (I use 1 tsp per my 6-6-6-3 recipe for my 9 inch tin)

- Butter for buttercream frosting

- Powdered/confectioner's/icing sugar for buttercream frosting

My buttercream recipe is just half butter to sugar. I usually use 3oz butter and 6oz sugar for a 9 inch two-layer cake, but my cakes don't tend to rise well. I'd say that fully assembled my two-layer cakes stand at about 3.5" tall.


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## petemccracken (Sep 18, 2008)

If the 9" is a 6-6-6-3-1 of flour, sugar, butter, eggs, baking powder, then the amounts for the other pan sizes are:

8" = 0.79 times 9" or 4.75-4.75-4.75-2.375-0.79, rounded off to 4 3/4-4 3/4- 4 3/4- 2 3/8- 3/4
10" = 1.2 times 9" or 7.2-7.2-7.2-3.6-1.2 or rounded off to 7 1/4-7 1/4-7 1/4-3 5/8-1 1/4 (scant)
12" = 1.81 times 9" or 10.86-10.86-10.86-5-46-1.81 or rounded off to 10 7/8-10 7/8-10 7/8-5 7/16-13/16 (scant 7/8)
If you have a large enough mixer, simply do one batch at 3.8 times the 9" or 22.8-22.8-22.8-11.4-3.8 or say 22 3/4-22 3/4-22 3/4-11 3/8-3 3/4 and fill each of your pans to the same height.

The frosting is slightly trickier, I presume the frosting between layers is thinner than the top covering, correct? If so, how much thinner I'll have to do a little thinking about this.


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## acover4422 (Jun 16, 2013)

Baker or not, you are a lifesaver! Thank you!

I actually tend to make the icing on the top and middle about the same thickness, but I generally don't have enough left to cover the sides. Since I'm using fondant, I want to cover the sides with buttercream, too. I think I would use 4 oz butter and 4oz icing sugar to completely cover a 9 inch cake.


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## petemccracken (Sep 18, 2008)

Assuming your layers are 1 3/4" thick, the total square inches of side to be covered is:

12" layer = Pi*d = 3.14159*12=37.699 use 37.7 sq in/in of height, for 1 3/4" = 65.97, use 66 sq in
10" layer = Pi*d = 3.14159*10=31.4159 use 31.4sq in/in of height, for 1 3/4" = 54.97 use 55 sq in
8" layer = Pi*8 = 3.14159*8 = 25.132, use 25.1 sq in/in of height, for 1 3/4: = 43.98 use 44 sq in
That totals 165 sq in. of sides to be covered

For the tops, the formula is A = Pi* r squared

12 " layer = Pi*6*6= 3.14159*6*6 = 113.097, use 113.1 sq in
10" layer = Pi*5*5 = 3.14159*5*5 = 78.539, use 78.5 sq in
8" layer = Pi*4*4 = 3.14159*4*4 = 50.265, use 50.3 sq in
That totals 241.8 sq in of top to be covered.

A combined total of 407 sq in

So now we decide on thickness, if we use 1/4", we need (165 + 242)* 1/4 = 407*1/4 = 407/4 = 101.75, use 102 cubic inches. There are 14.4375 cubic inches in 1 cup, so we will need 107/14.4375 = 7.065 cups of frosting. Obviously, if the frosting is only 1/8" thick, we'll need half as much and if it is 1/2" thick, twice as much.

So, the same numbers for a 9" two layer cake are:

Top = Pi*r*r = 3.14159*4.5*4.5 = 63.617
Middle = same as top = 63.617
Side = Pi*d*h = 3.14159*9*3.5 = 98.960
Those total 226.194, use 226.2 or at 1/4" thick, about 56.55 cubic inches or just shy of 4 cups of frosting; 2 cups if 1/8" thick.

In other words, you will need 407/226.2 = 1.799, say 1.8 times as much frosting as for the two layer 9" cake. I'd say twice as much to be safe.

I hope that helps and *I REALLY NEED SOME BAKERS TO JUMP IN ANYTIME NOW! */img/vbsmilies/smilies/rollsmile.gif


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## flipflopgirl (Jun 27, 2012)

Could have jumped in sooner but Pete's math is always a site to ponder lol!
Check Cake Central for everything you need to know about stacking cake as well as scaling batter.
Charts for amts of batter to fill pans as well lbs fondant needed to cover cake tiers

mimi


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## petemccracken (Sep 18, 2008)

FlipFlopGirl,

Flattery will get you NOWHERE /img/vbsmilies/smilies/crazy.gif

Where on Cake Central, are the pan sizes?


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## flipflopgirl (Jun 27, 2012)

The point goes to you Mr McCracken!

Have not been on CC in a year or so and it seems they have "upgraded" their site.

There used to be a sticky with sooo much handy info including some lovely butterflies from gelatin that I never got around to downloading.

Found lots of batter measurements but no charts.

I guess Wilton has saved my buns,

http://www.wilton.com/wedding/wedding-cakes/wedding-cake-data.cfm

Came across this cute little tool http://shinymetalobjects.net/cake/calculator/cakulator.cgi and since I use a similar online tool to calculate fabric for quilts thought it might be handy but would not put all my money on it unless tested first, /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smiles.gif

Googled lots of fondant charts but were all different (I use the chart provided with the brand I use).

This is one I used before I started needing fondant in such large quantities that I had to stop making my own http://www.earlenescakes.com/Fondantchart.html

mimi

* I met this decorator at the Oklahoma show and was impressed with how CLEAN she works.... (see the vid on how to stack)

http://www.designmeacake.com/tutorials.html

m.


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