12 inch chocolate cake - 2 layers in 2 pans

[EezyOozy]

Please help me! I only bake big cakes occasionally, and I'm a bit of an idiot so don't trust myself to make decisions!

I want to make a 12 inch chocolate cake for my daughter's party and I have 2 x 12 inch pans.

On here there is a recipe for a 12 inch round cake involving 14 eggs and all cooked in one pan (baked at 180c for 1.5 ish hours).

caroldeaconcakes.com/recipes/226/

I want to do it across 2 pans, seeing as I have them... I dont want to try and slice a huge cake in half horizontally as I will mess it up....😬

Assuming i put half the mix in each pan.... how long should i bake them for and at what temp? Stay at 180c and bake for half the time?

I'm afraid I do need things spelling out when it comes to baking.

I plan to bake tonight and decorate them tomorrow.

Thank you!!

For 12 inch cakes i ways do separate layers and level the top as I never got them to bake in the middle otherwise. I'd put half batter in each tin and check after maybe an hour - if you can see into your oven without opening it you should be able to see when the batter starts to come away from the sides which is a good point to check if cooked. I use an insulating collar for large cakes which is meant to stop the outside cooking too quickly. Thankfully I don't make 12 inch cakes often!

I'm afraid cooking time has always been trial and error and I do a practice one first - good luck!

I’d lower your oven temp to closer to 140-150 (fan) otherwise maybe 160. Low and slow is best. Even split across two tins you might need an hour and a half but do as above has suggested and check after an hour. Best way to check if done is to see if it both bounces back in the middle and to listen to it (careful not to burn your face!). If it’s still bubbling it’s not done yet. If it’s a very very quiet snap crackle/silent it’s done. A skewer can be deceptive. If you happen to have a couple of flower nails, pop those in the middle to encourage the centre to cook evenly with the edges. Otherwise (or also) use baking belts. A couple of folded soaked tea towels wrapped round the tins will work if you don’t have proper ones.

Thank you so much both! All noted, esp low and slow. Wish me luck !

Cakes in oven and looking good. I think I might actually do a third layer to give a bit more height.

I have a follow-up question if anybody is still reading… I’m going to cover the outsides in butter cream and fondant tomorrow night.

Can I stack them with buttercream between the layers tonight (and put in fridge)? This would be easier for me.

Or should I wrap them individually when cooled and stuck them tomorrow before finishing the icing? Sorry for all the questions! And thanks

Stack not stuck!

You can cover them as soon as they are cool and they don't need to go in the fridge - fridges can dry cakes out. Could do with being in an airtight box if you have one or wrap in foil / cling film.

Caveat - I'm not an expert!

Hope they came out of the oven well! If you have time, I’d cool the layers, wrap in cling film and leave on the side overnight before you do any levelling and icing. It allows the cakes to settle and makes them easier to level and more stable for covering. Then in the morning, level them out, fill and crumb coat, fridge for 20 mins, then do your base of buttercream. Depending on timings, you can then leave all day to crust and stabilise and then when you’re ready fridge until very firm to touch before covering in fondant. I have to say it’s a long time since I did buttercream under fondant as do ganache only now, but on your timescale that’s what I’d do. Hope that’s helpful! I’ll keep an eye on here if you have any other questions.