Recipes assume one pan, and your cupboard has another. Pick the pan the recipe was written for and the one you want to use — rounds, squares, 9 × 13s, sheet pans, loaf pans, springforms, Bundts, tube pans, or cupcakes — and the converter compares their batter volumes, gives the multiplier, scales your ingredient list line by line, and tells you how the baking time will change.
Need to convert the scaled amounts to grams or milliliters? Use the unit converter. Baking bread instead of cake? The bread hydration calculator and yeast converter cover doughs, and the percentage calculator helps with any other scaling.
Frequently asked questions
How do I convert a recipe to a different pan size?
Compare the volume of batter each pan holds and multiply every ingredient by the ratio. A 9-inch round holds about 27 % more than an 8-inch round, so an 8-inch recipe needs to be multiplied by about 1.27 for a 9-inch pan. This converter calculates each pan’s volume from its dimensions — π × radius² × depth for rounds, width × length × depth for squares and rectangles — and gives you the multiplier plus a scaled ingredient list you can paste in.
Can I bake a 9-inch round cake recipe in an 8-inch square pan?
Yes — they hold almost exactly the same volume. A 9 × 2-inch round and an 8 × 2-inch square both hold about 8.8 cups brim-full (about 128 cubic inches), so you can swap them without changing the recipe. Two 9-inch rounds of batter fit a 9 × 13-inch pan with a factor of about 0.92, which is close enough that most bakers use the recipe as is and bake a little longer. Check your pans with a ruler — measure inside edge to inside edge — because “9-inch” pans vary a little between brands.
How do Bundt and tube pans convert?
Bundt and tube pans have curved, fluted shapes, so the converter uses the capacity stamped on the pan (or the amount of water it holds to the brim) instead of geometry. Only about 60 % of that is batter: King Arthur Baking notes that a 10-cup Bundt has a bakeable capacity of about 6 cups, and a 12-cup about 7¼ cups. A typical 9 × 13 or two-layer recipe makes about 6 cups of batter, so it fits a 10-cup Bundt as written, and the converter agrees: about 1.03× from a 9 × 13 and 0.95× from two 9-inch rounds. Fill Bundt pans no higher than about 1¼ inches from the rim. If your pan has no capacity stamped on it, pour in water cup by cup until it reaches the brim and enter that number.
How do I change the baking time for a different pan?
Baking time follows batter depth more than volume. If batter will be shallower in the new pan, start checking 10–15 minutes early; if deeper, add time and check often, and for pans 3 inches deep or 12 inches wide lower the oven by 25 °F (15 °C) so the edges do not overbake before the center sets. Cupcakes take 18–22 minutes at 350 °F. A Bundt bakes at the same temperature for about 30 % longer than the recipe’s layer or sheet time (King Arthur Baking), often 45–60 minutes in all. A toothpick in the center should come out with a few moist crumbs.
What does the batter depth setting do?
It sets how much of a straight-sided pan’s depth the recipe’s batter fills. The default, 36 %, is a typical recipe: King Arthur Baking puts a standard 9 × 13 or two-layer cake at about 6 cups of batter, which is about ¾ inch deep in a 2-inch pan. That is less than the physical fill line — never fill a cake pan more than half to two-thirds full, so the batter has room to rise. Between two straight-sided pans the fill level cancels out, so the scaling factor does not change. It matters only when converting to or from Bundt pans, tube pans, or cupcakes, whose batter amounts are fixed: about 60 % of a Bundt’s capacity, and roughly ¼ cup per standard cupcake. If you know your recipe makes more or less batter than usual, change the setting to match; if Bundt cakes converted from a layer or sheet recipe dome over the rim, raise it a little: the converter then assumes the original pan held more batter, so it scales the recipe down for the Bundt.