How long do you have to bake a cake? (by centimeters)

Baking a cake seems like something that should be easy, right? The thing is, it can be more complicated than you think to bake a cake perfectly. There are different sizes of cakes and different types of cakes, and all of our ovens can be different too.

The good news is that if you know the tips for baking a cake based on size, you can follow a general baking guideline and you won’t end up underbaking or burning your culinary masterpiece.

While there are certain factors to consider when baking a cake, such as the pan and perhaps the type of cake, you can usually estimate the amount of time it takes to bake a cake based on the inches of diameter of the cake.

How long do you have to bake a cake?

This will vary based on size and thickness, but generally a 4-inch diameter, 2-inch thick cake will need to bake approximately 22-26 minutes. Times increase from there depending on the size of the cake.

In this guide, we will explain in detail the cooking time of a cake. We’ll break it down based on the different sizes of the cakes.

Baking time of the cake by centimeters

The baking time for your cake will really depend on the number of inches in the cake. We have several different options here to get you covered, from 4 inches clear to 16 inches.

Most cakes or pie layers are 2-3 inches high, but they can be different sizes in length, or in diameter, if you use a round pan.

You can refer to our table for a quick guide, but here’s a quick summary as well. 4-inch cakes typically take 22-26 minutes to bake and 16-inch cakes about 55-60 minutes.

Every 5cm of cake adds a bit of cooking time, but it is not a specific amount that is added.

Here’s a quick table with a breakdown, and we’ll go into more detail later to help you better understand the time differences.

4 inch cake

A 4-inch cake is quite small and will not need as much baking time as a larger cake.

Some bakers will tell you that the doneness of a cake should be based on the ounces of dough. The truth is that it depends on the size of your cake.

For example, a Bundt cake can take much longer. Although it is not usually very large in diameter, it is very thick, so it has to have enough time to cook to the center.

In the same vein, it’s a smaller surface area, so the timing could be similar to that of a 14-inch cake.

But we digress.

A 4-inch cake is usually cut into 8 slices. It bakes at approximately 350°F, although if you use a mix this may differ for different pans. A 4-inch cake bakes approximately 22-26 minutes.

This cake only uses about 1 cup of batter to fill the pan for a 2-inch-thick cake.

6 inch cake

A 6-inch cake is a bit larger, but you’ll be surprised to see it cook at least 10 minutes longer than a 4-inch cake.

There isn’t necessarily that big of a difference between the various sizes, but it is a noticeable difference between the 4-inch and 6-inch cake.

A 6-inch cake typically serves about 12 people, possibly more if you cut it small enough. They cook at about 350°F and the approximate cooking time will be 35-40 minutes.

To bake a 6-inch cake, about 2 1/4 cups of batter are used in a 2-inch-tall pan. You will find that the larger the cooker, the more cook time it will require, but this is the biggest difference in cook times.

8 inch cake

An 8-inch cake is only 2 inches larger than the 6-inch cake we just talked about. However, it uses a lot more dough to make it and, therefore, it will also take a little longer to cook.

Baking time is not much different than your 15 cm cake. You’ll notice there’s only a couple of minutes difference.

An 8-inch cake is typically baked at 350°F. In most cases, you’ll use about 4 cups of batter to make an 8-inch-thick cake. An 8-inch cake can serve about 20 people, depending on the pieces.

An 8-inch cake will bake for about 37-42 inches. Compared to the 15cm pie, it’s actually only about 2 minutes longer to bake.

10 inch cake

You can bake a 9-inch cake, but it’s not a very common size, so let’s skip right to a 10-inch cake. Again, you’ll notice that the 10-inch pie doesn’t require much more baking time than the average 8-inch pie.

Like our progression from 6 to 8 inches, you’ll notice that we only added a couple of minutes of bake time for this size pie.

This is the abstract. A 10-inch cake serves about 28 people, depending on the size of the pieces. It takes about 6 cups of batter to make a 2-inch-thick cake (which is traditional thickness).

A 10-inch cake bakes at 350°F, in most cases. Baking time for a 10-inch cake should be about 40-45 minutes. Keep in mind that it’s only 2-3 minutes longer than the 8-inch cake.

12 inch cake

A 12-inch cake will surprise you in terms of cooking time. On all of our other sizes of tarts, we have seen an increase in baking time.

However, a 12-inch cake will bake about the same time as a 10-inch cake.

A 12-inch cake serves about 40 people when sliced. You should anticipate using about 8 cups of batter to make a 12-inch cake.

A 12-inch cake is also typically baked at 350°F. When baking a 12-inch cake, you can expect a baking time of 40-45 minutes, which is exactly the same as a 10-inch cake.

14 inch cake

When you move to a 14-inch cake, you start to get into bigger territory. Due to the size of this cake, there are some differences in the way it is baked. You will notice that the temperature changes along with the time.

The reason you lower the temperature and cook much longer is because you want the cake to cook evenly. If you keep using the highest temperature, you’ll end up with a center that isn’t cooked enough and browned edges, which you don’t want.

A 14-inch cake will serve approximately 63 people. It’s a very big cake! To bake a 14-inch cake, it takes about 11 1/2 cups of batter to fill the pan to about 2 inches high.

A cake this size should bake at about 325°F instead of 350°F. Baking time will be about 50-55 minutes, which you’ll notice is about 10 minutes longer than a 12-inch cake. This change is due to the fact that the size is greater and the temperature is lower.

16 inch cake

A 16-inch cake is the ultimate size of a cake. Again, it’s going to need to cook at a lower temperature and a slightly longer time. It works for a lot of people.

At a wedding, this size of cake can serve 100 people. The typical size is intended to serve about 77 people, depending on how the pieces are cut.

A 16-inch cake uses about 16 cups of batter to make.

This pie size is similar to the 14-inch pie in that you want to make sure the center is done without ruining the edges of the pie. That’s where the lower temperature comes into play again.

When you bake a 16-inch cake, you’ll want to anticipate heating the oven to 325°F again. These cakes bake for about 55-60 minutes, which is a little longer than the 14-inch cake. It is a difference of about 5 minutes.

How much is a serving of cake?

It’s hard to know how to cut a slice of cake. Especially if you take into account the different shapes that cakes can have.

You can have round cakes as well as square or rectangular ones. Of course, you can now also buy molds with lots of different special shapes, which makes the cutting process cumbersome.

A wedding cake is made to be served in small portions and will therefore often serve many more people than the typical slice of cake.

You can see it in our earlier entry with the 16-inch cake, which served 100 people at a wedding, but only 77 in traditional servings.

There is a standard cut size for serving the pie. These slices are different from a wedding cake to a standard cake, so a wedding cake does more.

Of course, you probably won’t pull out a ruler when you’re cutting portions, but at least it gives you a general idea of what size to work with.

These are the sizes of most pie slices:

• Traditional portions measure approximately 1 1/2 x 2 inches.
• Wedding cake slices measure approximately 1 x 2 inches.

That small difference in serving size makes a pretty significant difference in the number of servings.

When you cut the cake, your portions can be very different. These figures are only approximate as a general guide for you.

How tall should a cake be?

In most cases, the cakes have a height of about 5 to 6 centimeters. It’s not always like that, but that’s the traditional height of a cake. A 4 inch tall cake would probably have 2 layers to make it that way.

Of course, it all depends on how much dough you use. This is one of the reasons why we included the amount of mass you might need in our examples above, but again, it’s just an approximate number.

There’s nothing that says your cake has to be 2 inches per layer, it’s the standard size for most cakes. If you have a deeper tart, there’s nothing wrong with that. Just keep in mind that it may affect the cooking times we’ve shared here.

Should I change the time for a 3 inch deep cake?

Yes. The times we’ve shared here have been provided assuming your cake will be a standard 2” thick. We know that sometimes people make thicker cakes and that’s okay.

If you make a 5 cm deep cake, the cooking time will increase. The rise will be about 5-10 minutes.

So, for example, if you’re making a 16-inch deep cake, you’ll want to allow about 75-85 minutes of baking instead of 55-60 for a 2-inch deep cake.

We do not have a breakdown for each size of 3-inch-deep cake. However, we recommend that you start with 5 more minutes and then check the cake and time from there.

You may need up to 15 more minutes, but in most cases it won’t be that long.

Can’t I use a higher temperature?

You can of course bake your cake at a higher temperature if you really want to. However, we do not recommend it. The matter is the following. Your cake should cook to a nice golden color.

When you increase the temperature, you think that you will simply have a shorter cooking time. While that may be true, you’re also going to hurt the quality of your food.

Most cakes should be baked at 350°F. However, you may need to reduce the temperature to just 325°F for some of your larger cakes to really get the best results.

We recommend using 350°F for most sizes, but reduce to 325°F for cakes 24 inches and larger.

If you raise the temperature to, say, 400°F, you’re going to be disappointed. This will cause the pie to darken and create a drier, crisper outer crust on the pie.

The intention of a pie is to give it that fluffy texture with a light crust and slightly caramelized flavor. Increasing the temperature will not do it.

Where do I put my cake in the oven?

When baking a cake, we recommend that you position the rack so that the cake can be in the center of the oven.

This is the best place to get the most even heat around the entire cake. If the cake is too high, the top could get too hot and vice versa on the bottom.