Looking for help scaling up a spice cake recipe to a 18x24 sheet pan>>

M

michelle

Well-known member
I've agreed to cater for a 2 day group next week, & the numbers for the one day are about double what I was expecting (I was expecting a number of 80, & it's 160). My dilemma is (other than the fact that I'm holding back tears - did I mention I have to figure out how to make 160 sandiches at the same time, & a pasta salad for 160?) I said I would do a spice cake. I was about to subcontract the cake out since my oven is just residential ie. the logistics of doing this cake is crazy, then I remembered my 18x24 sheet pans. I'm thinking I could use them for the cake (of course, the cake won't end up really tall), but I'm wondering what the dangers are with scaling cake recipes, or if anyone has any words of advice?

thanks so much smileys/smile.gif

 
What is the original recipe, michelle? I know there are sites

that deal with this sort of thing - converting from one size to another - but I am not sure which one I found once. I have scaled "down" but never "up".

 
Here's the recipe - it's from Pat (?) - I copied it into Word>>

& here is the original post, word for word:


Kitt, it's not bundt or apple but it's delicious! Rec: Blueberry Spice Cake
Blueberry Spice Cake

1 pint blueberries
2 cups all-purpose flour
2tsps baking powder
1tsp baking soda
1/2tsp salt
1/2tsp cinnamon
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2tsp powdered cloves and allspice
1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 egg, at room temperature
3 tablespoons molasses
1 cup sour milk* or buttermilk
1/3 cup confectioners sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Sprinkle berries
with a little flour. Butter and flour a 9x13
x2-inch pan. Sift flour and measure to 2
cups. Resift with baking powder, baking soda,
salt and spices. Cream butter and sugar. Beat
egg until lemon-colored and add to butter
mixture. Beat well. Gradually beat in the
molasses. Alternately add the
butter-egg-molasses mixture and the milk to
the dry ingredients, a little at a time,
beating well after each addition. Gently fold
in the blueberries. Pour into the prepared
pan and bake for about 30 minutes, or until
toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.
Remove and cool cake in the pan on a rack.
Dust with confectioners' sugar. Cut into
squares to serve.Yield: 16 servings.

*I used sour milk made with 1% milk and about
3/4 tsp white vinegar, then let sit about 1
minute

Source:
http://www.gingerich.com/recipe_bbspicecake.h
tml

Pat's notes: I didn't follow the preparation
instructions...I just combined the wet
ingredients in a bowl with a mixer, then
added the dry ingredients and blended with
the mixer another 30 seconds, then added the
blueberries. I only made half the recipe (a
bit of a challenge since it's only one egg,
but doable) and made it in an 8-inch square
baking dish (only took about 20 minutes to
bake). It smelled so heavenly when it came
out of the oven that I couldn't wait for it
to cool down. Just dusted it with powdered
sugar and sampled it. It's soooo good!!!

 
Advice from a "retired" caterer

Michelle, when the project looks too huge for words then it is time to get a plan. A 3 or 4 day plan of attack.

Most cake recipes can be doubled pretty successfully. I just looked at your recipe and it should double without a problem. Your baking time will be different of course but if you just watch it and test once in a while with a toothpick, you should be fine.

Make the cake(s) and freeze it/them several days ahead. Thaw and frost it/them the day of the event or decide to make spice cupcakes, freeze them and frost the day of the group event.

Choose sandwiches that can be made ahead. Muffuletta is a good example- by using good, sturdy bread, olive salad and layers of cheese and meats, assembling over a 1-2 day period and refrigerating, it takes the stress out of that job.

For pasta salad, cook the pasta a day ahead and refrigerate. Cut and prep the rest of the ingredients and bag until time to assemble with the dressing the day of the function. Use neighbor's refrigerators if you have to- or beg the use of a church kitchen refrig for a couple days. Worst case, take large coolers and fill with tightly-wrapped sandwiches and ice.

Another option is to put out trays of cheeses, meats, lettuce, tomatoes, etc- bowls of mayo and other spreads and a few kinds of breads and have everyone make their own sandwich.

Make it as easy on yourself as you can and, for pete's sake, ask for some help! Cooking for two day functions for 160 all by yourself is a little nuts. If you can score even one helper it will make your life a lot easier.

 
thanks for the advice cathy>>

for the most part, i'm already doing your suggestions smileys/smile.gif I do have one person to help, & i'm going to try to rustle up 2 more. I'm also doing a mid-morning & mid-afternoon coffee break (with scones, energy bars, etc). this is for a nurse's training seminar.

My favourite type of bread to use for large groups if french, since I can make 4 large sandwiches in the same time it takes to do one on ciabatta, or something else. I wish I could get 6 foot loaves smileys/smile.gif Just deliver them on boards!

I do have a commercial fridge (2 sliding doors) in my kitchen space - I just went with a residential double oven, since I thought 'i won't ever need more than that.............'

i do have lots of work space (on my steel tables). The biggest downfall with sandwiches that have lettuce (& i usually pile on a huge amount of baby greens) is that it goes limp within a couple hours of being made & wrapped, so I can't do most of them too far in advance.

The cupcake idea is good, though - I'm thinking that might make the most sense. It's a lot easier to control the baking of those, & they're already portioned out, as well. Thanks for the suggestion smileys/smile.gif

 
What she said. One more note...I wouldn't double the rising agents

I'd add 1 1/2 times. Too much rising agent can cause the cake to rise, then collapse before the gluten has time to set.

Also, if you have them, use cake wraps around your pan. Since your pan is wider across, edges heat up longer against the hot metal than the middle of the cake. The wraps help keep the pan from doing this.

I made 5 half-sheets of carrot cake using these two hints and they worked out perfectly. Made the cakes a few days ahead, put in frig, then frosted with creamcheese/white chocolate icing one day ahead. Back into the frig until ready. Worked fine.

Good luck!

 
Michelle...what about adding a bowl of greens and leave them off the sandwich. Folks

can add what they want and you won't have to worry about them going limp on the sandwich.

A bowl of pretty greens almost looks like a table decoration.

 
These are great tips! I entertain as often as I can and I'm always looking for do ahead suggestions

 
Lettuce talk about greens for a moment....

Something you can do to alleviate the limp greens in the sandwich problem is to use chopped or shredded Romaine or Iceberg lettuce. I know it is not the most beautiful or desirable thing but it will hold up and not look limp and yukky. Another thing you could consider is to use Arugula in the sandwiches instead of lettuce. It also holds up pretty well.

 
I was thinking the very same thing smileys/smile.gif I would normally never use icerberg, but I'm thinking for my

wraps, it might work well - or romaine, as you mentioned.

Just thinking about the job is still freaking me out, but getting all these helpful suggestions is helping me think it might just be do-able smileys/smile.gif

 
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