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RECIPE RULES: NOT
ALL RECIPES CAN BE SUCCESSFULLY DOUBLED OR MORE, especially sugar syrup based
candy. When you double or
triple a recipe or cut it in half, it's not as accurate as
weighing all
ingredients or using a
conversion factor, called scaling.
READ DISCUSSION
NOTE: If you
choose to scale a cake recipe, in general, I don't recommend adjusting the oven
temperature, unless you are prepared to throw out a lot of recipes. Some baker's
claim you should reduce the oven temperature when baking the recipe in a larger
pan. In general, I won't recommend it because it is a fairly complex decision,
based upon a lot of variables, and is not something I recommend as a blanket
"yes!" on my website. In general, the larger the surface area that's exposed to
the heat, the faster the cake will bake. In discussing this with
Shirley Corriher,
baking911.com's Advisor, she agrees with me. To paraphrase her: It depends on
the new surface area and the size and thickness of the new pan, as well as the
material. And, the decision to adjust baking temperatures is a complex one.
Also, in Rose Levy Beranbaum's book,
The Cake Bible, she does NOT recommend adjusting the oven heat as the
pan size increases. Her charts show that the baking time will increase, as do I.
In general, if the new cake's surface is exposed to more oven
heat than before, watch the cake during baking and if it starts to bake unevenly
and brown quickly at the edges, reduce the oven temperature by 25 degrees F. If
the cake is deeper than before, meaning you're using a deeper pan, then you may
need to use a
heating core to get the middle to bake better, but don't change the
oven's temperature. (6-19-05)
Doubling a recipe:
 | Just double the ingredients. |
| If the increased recipe calls for uneven
amounts of ingredients, it is a help to remember that:
| 2/3 cup = 1/2 cup
plus 2-2/3 tablespoons |
| 5/8 cup = 1/2 cup
plus 2 tablespoons |
| 7/8 cup=3/4 cup
plus 2 tablespoons |
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| Use twice as many pans of the same size
indicated for the original recipe or a pan double in area... so that the
batter will be the same depth in the pan and the same baking time and
temperature may be used. |
| Do not crowd the oven with extra pans.
Air must circulate freely around them. Save the extra batter in their pans, in
the refrigerator, while the first half bakes if you don't have room in your
oven. Extra batter stored in the mixing bowl has a greater chance of
deflating.
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If you are
doubling a recipe containing gelatin and 2 cups of liquid, double
the amount of gelatin and use only 3-3/4 cups of liquid. |
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| The baking times will probably lengthen, but
the oven temperature stays the same. |
Tripling and more:
| Do not simply triple the ingredients; for
accuracy, weigh all ingredients
or convert the recipe using a
conversion factor.
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| The baking times will lengthen, but the oven
temperature stays the same. |
Cutting in half:
| Reduce all of the ingredients by half.
But, you can also
weigh all ingredients
or convert the recipe using a
conversion factor. |
| If baking a layer cake, and cutting recipe in
half, use just one pan that is the same as the 2 original sizes. |
| If the divided recipe calls for less than 1
large egg, in order to get "half", beat the egg so the yolk and white are well
mixed, let the bubbles settle, and measure two tablespoons. |
| Baking pans used for half recipes of cakes,
pies, etc. should measure about
half the area of those for the whole recipe. Approximate baking time
and oven temperature are the same. |
| The oven temperature stays the same while the
baking time will decrease. |
 QUESTION:
My white cake recipe for a wedding cake makes 12 cups of batter. I need to
make 16 cups for the pans I'm using. How do you do that?
ANSWER:
Hi, You would need to make the recipe as initially written for the 12 cups.
Then divide the recipe by 3 and you will get one-third of the ingredients
needed to make up another recipe to give you 4 more cups of batter.
I would suggest that you do the 1/3 amount first, then make up the full
recipe. Put the cake pan with the four cups of batter into the fridge while
you are mixing the full recipe. By doing this you will slow down the rising
action of the baking powder in the mixture.
I would have all ingredients measured out and ready to mix up for both
cakes, so that you will have the mixed batter sitting as short a time as
possible. - The Cake Lady |
WEIGHING INGREDIENTS:
Go to How to Measure
Equivalencies. The chart there indicates that 1 cup flour equals 4.25
ounces. Say you are quadrupling the recipe. Take 4 x 4.25 = 17 ounces. You
simply weigh out 17 ounces of flour for your recipe.
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Question:
I intend to bake several pound
cakes for Christmas. I was wondering how to successfully double the recipe,
which calls for creaming the butter and sugar and 5 eggs plus other
ingredients. When doubling the recipe would I cream the butter and sugar
twice as long as I would do for one cake. Also, now using 10 eggs, would I
still beat for 1 to 2 minutes after each egg? I would like to take this
opportunity to thank you for all of your assistance. You cannot imagine the
disasters you have gotten me out of. Thank you, Vila
Answer: I
think that doubling recipes always leads to overmixing the batter especially
when making cake recipes UNLESS treat your doubled recipe as one, "new"
recipe. (Make sure your mixer is strong enough to handle the increased
volume). When creaming butter and sugar, just because you have double the
amounts of both, you should cream them the same amount of time as if you are
creaming for one recipe. The eggs are added one at a time and mixed as
though you are mixing them into one recipe. Stop the mixer and scrape the
sides of the bowl and the beaters often. Bake the recipe at the same
temperature. The time will lengthen because of more baking pans in the oven
at the same time. |
If an item isn't listed on the chart, then weight the
ingredient amount as stated in the original recipe to find its weight. For
example, if the recipe calls for 1/2 cup butter, and my chart does not show you
its weight, weigh it yourself. Then, multiply that figure x 4 to get what the
quadrupled amount would be.
CONVERTING
RECIPES WITH A CONVERSION FACTOR:
An accurate way is to mathematically
calculate the differences in “the amount you need” from “the amount that is in
the recipe" called a conversion factor. This works if you know the weight
of the before and after.
1. Calculate the
conversion factor:
Divide the recipe “old” yield with the “new” yield you need.
Here are a couple of examples:.
For making smaller recipes:
You need only 32 ounces of sauce. The recipe you have
yields 160 ounces.
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Simply divide 32 (new) by 160 (old).
Looks like this:
new / old = conversion factor; 32 / 160 = .2 |
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For making larger recipes:
You need 200 ounces of sauce. The recipe you have yields 80
ounces.
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Simply divide 200 (new) by 80 (old).
Looks like this:
new / old = conversion factor; 200 / 80 = 2.5 |
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2. Multiply all the ingredients in
the recipe by the new conversion factor:
Now that you have your conversion factor, you simply multiply
each ingredient by this factor. Note that if the conversion factor is less than
1, then you are decreasing the recipe. If the factor is greater than 1, then the
recipe will get larger. The only ingredients that do not follow this rule are;
salt, pepper, and spices. They must be adjusted according to taste.
3. Follow the mixing
and baking methods listed in the recipe:
With your new weights on each ingredient needed for a given
recipe, simply follow the original method and complete the recipe.
Some Measurements:
|
original |
double |
triple |
half |
third |
quarter |
|
1 c |
2 c |
3 c |
1/2 c |
1/3 c |
1/4 c |
|
3/4 c |
1-1/2 c |
2-1/4 c |
1/4 c + 2 T |
1/4 c |
3 T |
|
2/3 c |
1-1/3 c |
2 c |
1/3 c |
3 T + 1-1/2 t |
2 T+2 t |
|
1/2 c |
1 c |
1-1/2 c |
1/4 c |
2 T + 2 t |
2 T |
|
1/3 c |
2/3 c |
1 c |
2 T + 2 t |
1 T + 2-1/4 t |
1 T + 1 t |
|
1/4 c |
1/2 c |
3/4 c |
2 T |
1 T + 1 t |
1 T |
|
3 T |
1/4 c+ 2 T |
1/2 c + 1 T |
1 T + 1-1/2 t |
1 T |
2-1/4 t |
|
2 T |
1/4 c |
1/4 c + 2 T |
1 T |
2 t |
1-1/2 t |
|
1 T |
2 T |
3T |
1-1/2 t |
1 t |
3/4 t |
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