Cake Pan Tips - Adjusting for Different Types

As you may well know, there are several different types of cake pans available on the market. Some recipes will specify the type of cake pan you should use. Metal and glass cake pans are two of the most commonly used cake pans for baking.

This article provides a brief review of metal and glass cake pans, and gives you some tips on how to adjust baking temperatures based on the type of pan you use. You will also find out the effects on the finished cake based on the type of cake pan you use.

Metal cake pans

Metal cake pans are generally one of the most widely used types of cake pans and the easiest to handle. Based on the materials used to make them, metal cake pans can be divided into the shiny, light-colored type and the dark-colored type.

Shiny, light-colored cake pans tend to reflect heat a lot. The result is that the cakes you make will have lighter and tenderer crusts. If this is what you want from your cake, then shiny, light-colored cake pans are the way to go. Most recipes ask you to use this type of cake pan

Dark-colored cake pans are normally the non-stick type ones, and they absorb heat much more than the light-colored pans. When baking using a dark-colored cake pan, you will get a cake with a darker crust. Since these types of cake pans absorb more heat than normal, a general rule of thumb is to lower the required baking temperature by 25oF.

Glass cake pans

Glass cake pans are in actual fact called cake dishes, but it is not uncommon to hear people referring to them as cake pans. For the sake of simplicity, we also use the term glass cake pan here too in this article. Since the cake pans are made of glass, they initially do not absorb heat as readily as metal. However, once they start to absorb heat, they retain it very well, leading to a very high internal temperature.

When using cake dishes for baking, a general rule of thumb is to lower the required baking temperature by 25oF, same as for dark-colored cake pans. This will prevent the cake from being over baked.

Conclusion

Different types of cake pans are made from different materials, and this affects heat absorption and retention. Baking time should be adjusted accordingly to accommodate for the type of material the cake pan is made from.