Cake Pan Sizes & Conversions

Here’s an in-depth look at common cake pan sizes & conversions, as well as how to adjust recipes or make substitutions based on the pan sizes you have.

Unless you have fully stocked kitchen with dozens of baking pans, chances are that you’ll run into a recipe where you don’t have the specific pan required. In fact, a cake pan substitution is the subject of most recipe questions I receive. I figured it would be easier to store all of this information in one convenient place for us all to reference.

Welcome to my Cake Pan Sizes & Conversions lesson!

This Post Includes

• Common Baking Pan Measurements
• Cake Pans That are Similar
• Substituting Cake Pans
• Adapting Cake Recipes to Fit Certain Pans
• Amount of Batter Some of my Cake Recipes Yield

Common Baking Pan Measurements

In this list, you’ll find common baking pan measurements and the volume of batter they hold. ***The amount listed is the total amount of batter each pan holds, but you usually only fill cake pans halfway (unless otherwise noted in the recipe you are using). Most measurements were taken at my home kitchen. Cross referenced with the always trusted Joy of Baking, as well.

Measurement Conversions

• 1 inch = 2.54cm
• 1 cup = 240ml

Round Pans:
6×2 inches (15 x 5cm) = 4 cups (960ml)
8×2 inches (20 x 5cm) = 6 cups (1.4 liters)
9×2 inches (23 x 5cm) = 8 cups (1.9 liters)

Square Pans:
8×2 inch square (20 x 5 cm) = 8 cups (1.9 liters)
9×2 inch square (23 x 5 cm) = 10 cups (2.4 liters)
10×2 inch square = (25 x 5 cm) = 12 cups (2.8 liters)

Rectangular Pans – 2 inch (5 cm) tall
11×7 inches (28 x 18 cm) = 10 cups (2.4 liters)
13×9 inches (33 x 23 cm) = 14 cups (3.3 liters)

Springform Pans:
9x 2.5 inches (23 x 6 cm) = 10 cups (2.4 liters)
10x 2.5 inches (25 x 6 cm) = 12 cups (2.8 liters)

Bundt Pan – volume varies because of various designs
10×3 inch (25 x 8 cm) = 10-12 cups (2.8 liters)

Tube Pan:
9×3 inches (23 x 8 cm) =  12 cups (2.8 liters)

Jelly Roll Pans – 1 inch (2.5 cm) tall
10×15 inches (27 x 39 cm) = 10 cups (2.4 liters)
12×17 inches (32 x 44 cm) = 12 cups (2.8 liters)

Loaf Pans – about 3 inches (8 cm) tall 
8×4 inch (20 x 10 cm) = 4 cups (960 ml)
9×5  inch (23 x 13 cm) = 8 cups (1.9 liters)

How to Determine the Volume Yourself

If you want to calculate a pan’s volume yourself, it’s so easy! Simply fill your pan with 1 cup of water at a time and count until it’s full. That’s what I do!

How Much Does This Pan Hold?

Here’s a helpful list of the most common baking pans and the volume of batter they hold, as well as which pans hold the same amount of batter. ***Keep in mind that the volumes listed mean you are filling the pan all the way to the top with batter, which isn’t ideal for baked goods. Unless otherwise noted, filling pans around 2/3 full is the best practice. This leaves room for rising.

• For example, my vanilla cake recipe yields around 8 cups of batter which I divide between 3 9×2 inch round cake pans. (Each hold 8 cups of batter!) Each cake layer has a little less than 3 cups batter each.

Use the following section to determine which baking pans can be substituted for others based on their full volume.

Round Pans

• 6×2 inch round pan holds 4 cups of batter, the same as an 8×4 inch loaf pan. Fun discovery! Cupcake recipes yielding 12-16 cupcakes fit wonderfully in 3 6-inch cake pans. See my 6 inch cakes for more information.
• 8×2 inch round pan holds 6 cups of batter.
• 9×2 inch round pan holds 8 cups of batter, the same as an 8×2 inch square pan and a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
• 10×2 inch round pan holds 10-11 cups of batter, the same as a 9×2 inch square pan, 11×7 inch pan, 10×15 inch jelly roll pan, 10×3 inch Bundt pan, and a 9×2.5 inch springform pan.

Square Pans

• 8×2 inch square pan holds 8 cups of batter, the same as a 9×2 inch round pan and a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
• 9×2 inch square pan holds 10 cups of batter, the same as a 10×2 inch round pan, 11×7 inch pan, 9×2.5 inch springform pan, 10×3 inch Bundt pan, and a 10×15 inch jelly roll pan.
• 10×2 inch square pan holds 12 cups of batter, the same as a 12×17 inch jelly roll pan, 10×3 inch Bundt pan, 10×2.5 inch springform pan, and a 9-inch tube pan.

Rectangle Pans

• 11×7 inch pan holds 10 cups of batter, the same as a 10×2 inch round pan, 9×2-inch square pan, 9×2.5 inch springform pan, 10×3 inch Bundt pan, and a 10×15 inch jelly roll pan.
• 9×13 inch pan holds 14-16 cups of batter, essentially the same as 2 9×2-inch round pans.

Jelly Roll Pans

• 10×15 inch jelly roll pan holds 10 cups of batter, the same as a 10×2 inch round pan, 9-inch square pan, 11×7 pan, 9×2.5 inch springform pan, 10-inch Bundt pan.
• 12×17 inch jelly roll pan holds 12 cups of batter, the same as a 10×2 inch square pan, 10-inch Bundt pan, 10×2.5 inch springform pan, and a 9-inch tube pan.

Bundt Pans

10-inch Bundt pans are the standard size. I actually have several that are 9.5 inches and most Bundt cake recipes still fit.

• 10-inch Bundt pan holds 10-12 cups of batter, the same as a 10×2 inch round pan (10 cups), 9×2 inch square pan (10 cups), 10×2 inch square pan (12 cups), 11×7 inch pan (10 cups), 10×15 inch jelly roll pan (10 cups), 12×17 inch jelly roll pan (12 cups), 9×2.5 inch springform pan (10 cups), 10×2.5 inch springform pan (12 cups) and a 9-inch tube pan (12 cups).

Tube Pans

9×3 inch tube pans are the standard size. I have a few that are 8 inch and 10 inch and most recipes using tube pans fit nicely in all.

• 9×3 inch tube pan holds 12 cups of batter, the same as 10×2 inch square pan, 12×17 inch jelly roll pan, and a 10×2.5 inch springform pan.

Springform Pans

• 9×2.5 inch springform pan holds 10 cups of batter, the same as a 10×2 inch round pan, 9×2 inch square pan, 11×7 inch pan, a 10×15 inch jelly roll pan.
• 10×2.5 inch springform pan holds 12 cups of batter, the same as a 10×2 inch square pan, 12×17 inch jelly roll pan, and a 9×3 inch tube pan.

Loaf Pans

• 8×4 inch loaf pan holds 4 cups of batter, the same as a 6×2 inch round pan.
• 9×5 inch loaf pan holds 8 cups of batter, the same as a 9×2 inch round pan and an 8×2 inch square pan.

Substituting Cake Pans

I’m piggy-backing this one to the section above because there’s often a need to substitute different cake pans. If substituting a baking pan that holds the same amount of batter, be wary of the baking time because the dimensions of the baked good will change. Always keep your eye on the oven and begin checking for doneness earlier than the recipe states.

Remember, only fill pans about 2/3 full unless otherwise noted in the recipe.

Adapting Recipes to Fit Certain Cake Pans

Adapting recipes to fit the cake pans you have (or need) can often be complicated. While it’s always best to stick to the written recipe, sometimes you need to make adjustments and that’s where a little math can help.

1) Determine the volume your pan can hold. You can also determine the actual surface area of the pan in square inches. I actually used Food 52’s article by Alice Medrich on this subject to brush up on my math!

• For square and rectangle pans, multiply the length of the sides. For example, a 9×13 inch baking pan is 117 square inches. 9×13 = 117.
• For circle pans, determine the area by multiplying the radius squared by π. (π = 3.14, the radius is half of the diameter, and squaring means multiplying a number by itself.)  For example, the area of a 9-inch round pan is 63. The radius is 4.5. 4.5×4.5 = 20.25. Multiply that by 3.14 = 63.5.

2) After you determine the volume your pan can hold or its square inches, you can confidently make baking pan substitutions.

• For example, if a 9×13 inch pan is 117 square inches and a 9-inch round pan is 63.5 square inches, you can be confident that the volume from one 9×13 inch pan can fit into TWO 9-inch round pans (approximately 120 square inches total).

What if volumes and square inches don’t match up perfectly? You’ll have to adjust the recipe and this requires more math.

For example, if you want to adapt a 9-inch round cake to a 10-inch round cake, you’ll need to make adjustments. A 9-inch round cake pan is 63.5 square inches/holds 8 cups of batter. A 10-inch round cake pan is 78.5 square inches/holds 10-11 cups of batter. Without any adaptions, your 10-inch cake layers will be very thin. You’ll need to increase the batter by 25%.

The get this percentage, work with the cups or square inches. Subtract the number you have (8 cups) from the number you want (10 cups). Divide that (2 cups) by what you have (8 cups), then multiply by 100. (The universal way to find a percentage.) This equals 25%.

How to Avoid the Math

What works for me most of the time (because I don’t trust myself with too much math!) is to 1.5x the recipe or even making 2 batches of batter. (For best success, taste, and texture, I always recommend making separate full batches instead of doubling. Doubling risks over-mixing or under-mixing and could overwhelm your mixer.) Then, I use leftover batter to make a few cupcakes on the side to freeze for another time.

It’s better to have extra batter rather than not enough.

What About Eggs?

If you need part of an egg for when you are adjusting a recipe, crack the egg, beat it, and whatever percentage of that mixture you need. If you need 1/3 of an egg and you have 3 Tablespoons of beaten egg, use 1 Tablespoon. For a more precise amount and if you don’t trust your measurements, you can also weigh the beaten egg on a kitchen scale to determine exactly how much you need.

• Cover, refrigerate, and add any leftovers to your scrambled eggs the next morning!

Amount of Batter Some of my Cake Recipes Yield

The following list will help if you need to adjust my recipes for different pan sizes. These are the recipes I know and all measurements are approximate.

• Checkerboard Cake: about 8 cups
• Vanilla Naked Cake: about 8 cups
• Vanilla Cake: about 8 cups
• Chocolate Cake: about 6 cups
• White Cake: about 7 cups
• Banana Cake: about 6 cups
• Strawberry Cake: about 7 cups
• Snickerdoodle Cake: about 8 cups
• Coconut Cake: about 7-8 cups
• Red Velvet Cake: about 6-7 cups
• Lemon Cake: about 7 cups

My Favorite Baking Pans

I have a list for you! Stock Your Kitchen with These 8 Baking Pans

The next time you have a question about cake pan sizes & conversions, I hope you find your answer in this post so you can confidently make the adjustments needed.