If you always have issues with doming, it could be the recipe itself, improper air/heat circulation and/or the pan construction. If you are making larger celebration cakes, add 6-inch, 10-inch, 12-inch and 14-inch. Rolled top edged make easier handling and of course, store them carefully so that they don’t get dented! I would by 8-inch and 9-inch for a set for simple layer cakes and Bday cakes. I am partial to my higher end Wilton and my Magic Line. make sure to by straight sided pans and the ones I prefer are all aluminum. By the time I wrote Wedding Cakes You Can Make I had learned, through experience as you have, that we get better results with thinner layers. When I wrote The Wedding Cake Book I had been working in bakeries for years and had been using 3-inch and that is why that book uses many in that dimension. I find 2-inch to be much more versatile, not only for the reasons you mention, but also because most recipes (barring some geared towards commercial baking) will call for the 2-inch and not the 3-inch.

There was a 20% difference in baking time with the supermarket pan, so if you do not use the same or similar cake pans, your baking times will be off as well. We use the Wilton pans in the test kitchen and our recommended baking times reflect their performance. Invest in great baking pans and you will have them forever. The Wilton pan resulted in a cake with a more level surface, a consistent color overall and, most importantly, a tender, even crumb throughout.

The supermarket pan’s cake peaked horribly, overcooked around the edges and left the cake texture rough and uneven from center to edges.

One was Wilton Decorator Preferred (seen on the right in the photo), which we love for its sturdiness and even heating, and the other was a thin, flimsy pan bought at the supermarket (shown on the left, above). The only difference was the quality of the two pans. In the Test Kitchen, Bakepedia performed an experiment where we divided a basic yellow cake batter in half and baked the two halves in the same oven at the same time, but in different pans. W e want to help you bake the best possible cakes and along with great recipes, your choice of cake pans can make a huge difference. Your Choice of Pan Does Affect Your Baked Goods

Magic line vs fat daddio