Extra large tray bake - advice needed please!

I think I would double to usual mixture I use (Mary Berry traybakes) and bake it in my big roasting tin. Happy cake making.

Thank you BigBertha1
I am using a roasting tin too

I wouldn’t do this. The edges will be cooked well before the middle.

If this is a special cake, I assume it will be iced. If so, safer to do two in traybake tins (4 egg quantity in each). As Watermeadow says, difficult to get such a quantity to bake evenly in a roasting tin. I’ve done several special cakes like this over the years and they’ve been well received!

I use a chocolate recipe in a roasting tin 37x4×30.

Mine is a batter type one though so probably more forgiving - not technically a sponge.
I just double everything up.
It is a tray-bake though and cut in the tin so not decorated in the "birthday cake" way.

This is from the Peggy Porschen (re cake sizes)

For each
200g salted butter/ 200g caster sugar/ 4 medium eggs/ 200g self raising flour

She uses the table attached.

Line the tin with baking paper double mix of usual tray bake as suggested. When baking it if the edges colour first throw a light tray or foil over to ensure the bake cooks through and doesn’t brown too much.
Take out a couple of mins early as it will continue to bake in residual heat. Let it cool on wire tray/s before you peel away the paper.

It's a long time since I attempted a big cake in a roasting tin :

The edges tend to burn before the middle is cooked as
watermeadow warned .
Like Redhead56 I double lined my next effort and put a little tin foil along the edges .
It was better , but I felt that the edges were a bit dry . You could slice off the offending bits with a sharp knife when cool .
The one thing that I didn't try was to put some water in a pan below to create steam when cooking .

I'd rather make two cakes than one !

If you do make it as one cake make sure you line base and sides with baking parchment. Place a large piece of brown paper under the base of the tin and a collar of double brown paper. And cook at 160°c fan or 170°c normal over . If you cook at a higher heat like others have said it will cook round the ends and be raw in the middle the brown paper will allow it to cook evenly. For such a large mix I hope you have a very large mixing bowl if not you will have to do in 2 batches but then you run the risk of the first mix losing air beaten into it.

Why does it have to be cooked in one large cake? As cooked in 2 batches you could put a nice filling in the middle and then cover it with a flavoured icing . That way it will keep lovely and moist.
If you do cook it in one remember to remove the rack from about it and it will not only be bulky but heavy to put in and out of the oven. Also I hope you have a very large cooling rack to put it on . Good luck.

Can somebody enlighten me on the difference between a sponge and a traybake please as I must have misunderstood the latter term.

Tray bake is a term used for a large sharing cake or sheet bake topped with icing etc for cutting into squares. Compared to a traditional cake that is sandwiched with cream jam etc and sliced.

Tray bake is a sponge cooked in rectangular time. Same mix as Victoria sponge. Unless it's like millionaire shortbread which is also a tray bake.

Tin not time.

Thank you all for the tips! Hadn't thought about the size of the cooling tray needed. I'm going to make two normal size bakes - one as the birthday cake and the other as a spare for latecomers. Unable to sandwich them as the recipient will not eat jam or buttercream

I can see the need for lining the tin - I would usually just grease and flour with good results. I'll be glad to get the baking over with!

Hope it turns out well for you.

Starof this is a perfect filling and can be used as topping for people who don't like buttercream . It very old so only in ounces.

For a cake your size I woud do 4-6 times quality

Chocolate fudge icing

1oz melted spread
2 tbsp milk
1oz cocoa powder
3oz icing sugar

Mix all ingredients into melted spread. Have been using this recipe for over 30 years. Not met anyone who doesn't like it.

I did this not so long ago. Something this size is not idea in a domestic oven but after experimenting I found reducing the heat to 170 and increasing the baking time helped to reduce the drying effect round the edges while allowing the centre to cook. A tin of water in the oven bottom also helped. Good luck.

Ideal. Doh…

If the tray bake is served in the tray much of the worry disappears.

If I was going to lift it out I would line the tin with a sheet of card covered with foil so that it sits on the base of the tin but is folded neatly so that it sticks up well above the sides (or ends) of the roasting/ baking tin. . This needs to be tall enough so you can get hold of it after the cake is cooked - it will help you lift large cakes out.

If you have a helper to gently lift the
foil-covered card you can use fish slices at the sides too.

I let my traybakes cool in the tin.
Mostly I don't take the big ones out.

Easy way to work out quantities is to weigh the eggs and use same weight of sugar, fat and SR flour. I would use 8 eggs for a roasting tin size. I second the advice about lining the tin and covering the edges if they brown before the middle is done. Also let it cool before removing from the tin.

Have you a cake band? It will stop the cake burning and drying out at the edges

All good advice on here, I’ve baked a carrot cake in a large tray and had no problems with it overcooking at the edges.

GreyhairedWarrior

Easy way to work out quantities is to weigh the eggs and use same weight of sugar, fat and SR flour. I would use 8 eggs for a roasting tin size. I second the advice about lining the tin and covering the edges if they brown before the middle is done. Also let it cool before removing from the tin.

Easy way to work out quantities is to weigh the eggs and use same weight of sugar, fat and SR flour.

Yes, that tip was give to me by a friend many years ago.
Weigh the eggs in their shells first - usually 2 will weigh about 5 ozs.