When baking, even small deviations in the size of the pan can affect the outcome: the sponge may not bake through, the cake layer may become dry, and there may not be enough cream.
But if your pan differs from the one specified in the recipe, don’t worry! There is a simple way to recalculate the ingredients for the required pan size. Let’s figure out how to do this.
Why it’s important to consider the diameter of the pan
Each pan has its own volume, which determines how high the dough will rise and how quickly it will bake.
If you use a pan with a larger diameter, the dough will be thinner, and the baking time will be reduced.
If the pan is smaller, the dough will be taller, and the baking may not cook through.
Conversion factor
The conversion factor helps adapt the amount of ingredients from the recipe for a pan of a different size. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a round, square, or rectangular pan. The formula is the same for any shape.
The formula itself is simple: square of the diameter of our pan divided by the square of the diameter of the pan in the recipe.
For example, if you want to bake a sponge in a pan with a diameter of 26 cm, but the recipe specifies ingredients for a pan with a diameter of 23 cm.
In this case, the conversion factor will be:
(26 * 26) / (23 * 23) = 676 / 529 = 1.27
Let’s also consider the opposite example. Suppose the recipe is for a pan with a diameter of 20 cm, and we only have a pan with a diameter of 16 cm.
Let’s calculate the conversion factor:
(16 * 16) / (20 * 20) = 256 / 400 = 0.64
What to do next
We have learned the conversion factor. Now we just need to multiply the amount of all ingredients from the recipe by this factor.
For example, if the recipe calls for 200 g of erythritol, and our factor is 1.27, then we will need:
200 * 1.27 = 254 g of erythritol.
If the quantity of the ingredient is specified in pieces, we also use the conversion factor. But in this case, we round the fractional part up (if it’s greater than or equal to 0.5) or down (if it’s less than 0.5).
Example for 5 eggs:
5 * 1.27 = 6.35 = 6 eggs
In the recipes on the site O-KETO.COM, for which the diameter of the pan is specified, there is a field for adjusting the recipe for a pan of a different diameter. Therefore, you just need to enter the size of your pan, and the amount of ingredients will be adjusted automatically.
