Hi,

I totally understand that the acetate and cake ring seem like a little much. The goal with these is to achieve perfect, straight sides and to really showcase the layers. For this birthday cake, you could skip the acetate and the ring, and even the freezing step, without too much impact on the texture or the look. I think it will work just fine and I'm sure many stack it like a "regular" layer cake.

Indeed! If you want the original, best to buy the book. As I mentioned above, there are a few things I did a little different to make the cake shown in the photos. The recipe I've published here includes those changes. It wouldn't be right for me to show pictures of a cake made with a different recipe, so it only makes sense to publish the recipe as I did it. Hope that makes sense!

I'm pretty sure this is the pan I use on Amazon

I know, pan sizes vary so much from one company/brand to another.
If I measure the pan on the bottom, outside, the pan is about 9 3/4" x 14 3/4" .
If you have a pan that is even 9x13 on the bottom, you should be okay. The cake batter fills almost all the way to the top. Just note that if you use a glass pan, the baking time will differ. And depending on the pan size you use, you might have thicker or thinner layers of cake.
I hope this helps!

Are the dimensions of your 10x15 sheet pan the internal or external dimensions? I'm finding it quite hard to find the right size pan.

Thanks
Anders

Hi Pimm,

Thank you for your kind words about my blog! I appreciate the support 🙂

About this cake recipe, the cake will settle a bit when it comes out of the oven, and shrink down slightly, but it does sound from your description that something is wrong because the final cake layers are quite light.

First off, I'd like to make sure you are using a good, digital kitchen scale. This is very important.

Are you sure that before adding in the buttermilk mixture that you have beaten the mixture sufficiently? At every stage of the recipe, you incorporate more and more air, so as of the first step creaming the fats and sugars, already you are aerating the mixture. Make sure you beat even the first step for long enough.

My other thought is are you streaming in the buttermilk mixture? If you add it too fast, it will affect the emulsion and also the air in the batter, causing it to collapse.

My last question: when you add the flour mixture, are you careful not to overmix? Overmixing could lead to a denser cake.

I hope this helps and please, if you have more questions, feel free! Good luck!

But on my first attempt today i'm having a problem. My cake didnt rise properly and wasn't double in size. I mean i even tried making second and third batches after that and the cake seems so dense and doesnt look as good as yours.

I guess it is because of this stage
In a 1-cup measurer, weigh out the buttermilk, grapeseed oil, and vanilla. With the mixer on low, add the wet ingredients in a steady stream. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and beat for another 4 to 6 minutes. The mixture will double in size almost, and will appear light and fluffy. There will be no trace of oil left.

After adding in the wet ingredients, the recipe suggests that you should beat until the mixture is light and fluffy (and white?) Mine batter was too liquidy then and it doesnt seem like it is going to be creamed and light like the sponge cake batter nor the normal butter cake batter. I left the machine beating for like 8 minutes. And after i add in dry ingredients the batter became so thick. Do you have any good suggestions? Thank you so much in advance.

Hi Mike! You can order a 6" cake ring or springform on Amazon, but I guess it's probably too late for that. Like this one. Otherwise for a 7-inch square ring, you will definitely have to scale up the amount of cake you make (because from one sheet pan, you will only get about 2 cake layers), and even the frosting a little. There's going to be some math, but if you don't mind doing math, and are careful to not skip doing the math on an ingredient, then you should be able to.

Good luck!