Hi, I will be baking a caje using a 9X13 inch pan in a few days and I was wonderingif anyone would give me any tips on how to make a nice tall cake. I am a new baker and I need azny help I can get. Thank you!

Hi Elsa,
Welcome to CC you are going to love it here! I always use 2 cake mixes and just level the top to get a nice full 9X13. Best of luck to you!

Use a cake mix extender. There are 3 recipes on here that will work just fine. Also, bake your cake at 325 degrees and use the bake even strips on the pan. Granted you'll have you bake the cake longer, but this will help make your cake taller, develop less of a hump (and in many cases no hump), and will make your cake taste more like a scratch cake. Also after the cake has cooled in the pan for 10 minutes, turn cake out onto a cooling rack and immediately wrap it in plastic wrap; this will help seal in the moister of the cake.

I always use meringue(sp) powder in my batter and my WMI instructor always commented on how tall my cakes were...Just use about 1T per box mix ~Tonja

Thanks to all of you for your great tips

Can someone tell me please what size baking strips should I purchase. Thanks!

I purchased the large size. That way, I was certain i would have enough for the 9x13 or for 2 round cakes.

Thanks and sorry about the silly questions

I was just about to post a similar post. When you bake a single layer 9X13 and level it you place it bottom up, right? So would you then crumb coat the bottom edge? I've only ever done a two-layer round but I decided to go different because we had the choice for our next class.

When you level the cake, you level the top part of it. And then you flip the cake onto your cake board so your top of the cake is facing down and your bottom of the cake is now facing up. Does that make sense?

Yes that makes sense. And I am correct in that there is no need to crumb coat as there is no torting or layering involved, right?

It depends on your cake. If you cake isn't crumby, then you can get away without. However, if it is, then you will want to crumb coat. What you can do is start frosting your cake and if it gets crumby, then you can consider that your crumb coat and just do another layer.

Thanks to all of you. I found a cake mix extender that I will use. Here is the other part of my question. I shoujld not fill the pan to the top right? I am really sorry for asking these questions thank you

No, do not fill the pan to the top, 3/4 the way at the most. I know that a 9x13 2" deep pans calls for 7 cups of batter.

..your pan should be filled 1/2 to 2/3 full..any more than that and it will over flow!

No. If you fill your pan to the top it will overflow and you will end up with a mess! I fill mine anywhere from 1/2 to 2/3 full depending on how tall I want it. I also use a flower nail in the middle to help with "dome tops" and the make sure it bakes even. I have never tried the bake even strips. Good luck to you!

By the way, I always crumb coat, just to be safe! And remember, we were all in you shoes before, your questions are not silly, we are all here to help!

Hi, I bake lots of 9x13 cakes. I found a 9x13 cake pan that was in my mother-in-laws cupboard when she passed away and for some reason I took it. I have used that pan for all my 9x13 cakes. For some reason it has tall sides and they are straight up. I use 2 cake mixes in mine, use the strips and a upside down flower nail in the cake so the heat will get to the middle of the cake. I put parchment on the bottom of the pan and spray ONLY the sides with the grease/flour spray. I have found if I spray the bottom of the pans, the parchment wants to stick to the bottom so if I don't spay it they just pop out. Find what works for you and do it. Sandy

A crumb coat is just a thin layer of buttercream that basically "traps" in the crumbs. Just do a thin layer and let set for about 10 minutes and then put on the thick coat of BC. This way, there will be no crumbs sneaking into your icing!

All of you are great. Thank you very much for being patient and so friendly

Yes I agree, I always do a crumb coat too. Sandy

I just posted the cake in my photos.