I get it when you’re baking your only goal is to finish the baked product as quickly as possible and be efficient where needed. In this article, I’m going to answer the question of how many cakes can you actually bake at once. Because we all know that you don’t want to stay in the kitchen forever you want to be able to eat and enjoy the cake.
If using a standard electric kitchen oven the most you can bake ensuring that the cake bakes properly all around is two cakes at a time. If it’s needed to bake more than one cake it is perfectly fine to leave the batter in a pan sitting for a reasonable time ready to be baked as soon as the other cakes are done in the oven.
Having your cake batter ready to go into the oven won’t affect the batter that much especially if the cake is being baked for 30-40 minutes. This is especially perfect if you’re looking to bake three or four cakes to create tiers it’s perfectly fine to have multiple rounds until all the cakes are done.
If you’re worried about the batter losing its leavening power it’s perfectly fine to start making a new batter while the other cakes are in the oven. There is a risk that the cake can lose its rising power if the batter is sitting too long but don’t believe that it will affect it greatly if it’s only for a couple of minutes. If you know that you’re going to be taking a little bit longer it is advised to create separate batches.
You can check out this post to see how much time it’s going to take you to bake your cake using the given formula.
We’re going to talk more about time and how long it usually takes a bake multiple items. We will also explore what happens when you choose to decrease or increase your pan size and how it affects the time that you’re going to spend baking your cake.
Does It Take Longer To Bake Multiple Items?
The length of time that it takes to bake multiple items will depend greatly on how big your baking pans are. For the most part, if baking cupcakes most home bakers will use two 12 muffin pans in the oven or for a cake it would be two cake pans in the oven. Another factor is the recipe quantity depending on the recipe usually it’s made to fulfill a certain quantity (i.e. 12- 18 cupcakes).
Unless you’re looking to bake a large amount of different types of baked goods. Recipes are made to fulfill a certain amount and are not made in large batches. So if you’re needing to have more than what the recipe calls for it may require you to do the steps multiple times. Especially if you don’t want to jeopardize the quality of your batter or not have the necessary quantity of mixing supplies.
Unless you’re making just one cake or one batch of cupcake or one baked good it most likely will take longer to bake multiple items as most times it’s very limited on how many pounds baking pans can fit in the oven especially if you want it to bake properly.
Check out this post to learn how to increase or decrease your recipe quantity.
How Long To Bake Two 9 Inch Cakes
It can take anywhere from 26 to 30 minutes to bake two 9-inch pan cakes. Every oven is different so it’s still important to watch the time and your cake in the oven to make sure that the cake doesn’t undercook or overbake as most temperatures in ovens vary depending on the household.
As a general rule the smaller the cake pan the more time you need to give it because of its volume, and the thicker layers as a result of using a smaller cake pan. The bigger the cake pan and the more shallow it is the less time it needs to bake. To give perspective if a recipe calls for you to bake the equivalent of two cakes separately in its own pans but instead chose to use one pan it can add up to 50% of the time it would usually take if you were to have two separate pans to bake.
The biggest thing you want to watch out for when baking in a smaller pan is you want to lower the time if necessary to ensure that the outer area of the cake doesn’t bake too quickly to the point where it gets too dry and burned. For smaller cakes, because it has thicker volume the outside tends to bake quicker than the interior so you want to make sure that you’re giving the smaller cake much time to bake from the inside.
Does It Take Longer To Cook Two Cakes In The Oven?
If you’re baking two cakes in two separate pans it is more than likely that you won’t need to change any baking instructions and can use the regular time it calls for. You’ll simply need to follow the instructions of the recipe that you are following for your cake and bake for the recommended time.
Depending on your oven you may need to rotate your cake from time to time so that the heat is distributed properly on your cake.
How Do You Tell If A Cake Is Done In The Oven?
Here’s how to tell if a cake is done in the oven. The cake doesn’t have to be well baked but the cake needs to look slightly undercooked but not wet like liquid batter. Depending on the cake it can look moist but still have a springiness to it. Another way to tell is by using a toothpick or a knife and gently poking it in the middle of the cake it should come back clean. If it isn’t done the wet batter will be very noticeable.
Also, look out for the cake edges, if the edges are getting brown very quickly and it’s still not done it’s okay to use foil to prevent it from further browning. Can you still hear the liquid bubbling in the oven while baking then that’s a sign that the batter is not done yet. But if you’re not hearing anything it’s a good sign that it’s done.
Usually, when baking I use intuition while keeping the recommended time the recipe calls for. If it says to bake for 30 minutes I would start checking it at the 20-25 minute range to ensure that it’s not overbaking as some ovens do differ and they’re not all the same and the time that’s recommended may not be needed. It’s important to use your judgment if it needs more time keep it in the oven.