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I have a baked chocolate ring cake, but I want to convert it to a square cake. How I can do it?

csk
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Kevin
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    Please clarify: Do you have a baked ring cake that you want to cut into a square (Why?) or have you baked a ring cake and now would like to use the same recipe to make a square cake? – Damila Feb 13 '21 at 20:58

2 Answers2

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Well, if you find a square pan with approximately the same surface area as the round pan, then you can just bake it for the same amount of time at the same temperature. The same surface are is important, since we want the cake to still have the same height as the original.

For some algebra: We can't construct this pan with a compass and a straight edge, but we can approximate it with a calculator. The area of the round pan is pi * r^2, where r is the radius. So a 9-inch round pan would have area pi*4.5^2. We want a square pan with side length s, so we want s^2=pi * r^2. Hence, s=\sqrt(pi * r^2). So for example if you would normally bake it in a 9 inch pan, you would need a square pan with side length approximately \sqrt(pi * 4.5^2) = 8 inches.

user141592
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  • A ring cake usually is baked in a tube pan, bunt pan or similar. They often have higher sides than standard cake pans. – Debbie M. Feb 13 '21 at 16:59
  • It's dependant on surface area to volume ratio, so setting up the same surface area in a rectangular prism as a solid cylinder or hollow tube changes the ratio of SA to volume. In essence it comes down to "How far is the centre of the cake from the centre of the nearest face; which isn't a math problem I'm likely to solve on my fingers. I'd use a thermometer. – Tetsujin Feb 13 '21 at 18:22
  • While your calculation makes sense (if it is a circular and not toroidal cake), the OP says that their cake is already baked, so I don't think your answer applies here. – rumtscho Feb 13 '21 at 19:27
  • @rumtscho - i wouldn't read it that way myself - but it is not the clearest explanation. One would presume, though, that if one had a circular cake, then taking a big knife to it would get you closer to the required square ;) – Tetsujin Feb 13 '21 at 19:32
  • @Tetsujin the OP says literally "I have a baked chocolate Ring Cake", so I don't see much room for interpretation. I know that to an experienced baker, the whole idea sounds absolutely impractical, but we do have beginners on the site, and maybe the OP just bought a cake in the supermarket for the first time. – rumtscho Feb 13 '21 at 19:35
  • The other problem with this calculation is that the OP would need to subtract the small circle in the middle: subtract pi r^2 of the interior circle. – Damila Feb 13 '21 at 21:01
  • @rumtscho - you're right. For some reason I hadn't read it that way. I'll blame coffee deficiency, sorry :)) – Tetsujin Feb 14 '21 at 09:27
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Cake is very easy to cut to shape, although you cannot reuse the cut-off pieces to somehow remodel the thing. So, to get your square shape, you will have to cut off enough of the sides of the cake to make it square. This obviously means that the cake will be much smaller - there is nothing you can do to fix this.

The second problem you have is the hole in the middle of your ring-shaped cake. You have to do something so it appears to be there intentionally. Options would be to make a pi~nata cake, or to fill it with some substance firm enough to stand up on its own, and tasty enough when eaten in spoonfuls. You have tons of possibilities, pretty much any firm cake filling mass will do. Looking up no-bake cheesecake recipes would be the easiest place to start. Or you may be able to wing it and reuse your scrap cake if you crumble it and mix it with your filler. If that's too much work, you can decorate it on the plate to make it appear intentional, placing some inedible centerpiece in the hole (a vase of flowers?).

Third, your sides will now be obviously cut, which is undesirable when serving a cake. So you will have to frost the cake, or at least the sides. Don't worry if it is already frosted on top, as long as it isn't decorated, you can place a second frosting of the same or a different kind on top.

All of the above is doable, but a lot of effort and requires full reengineering of the type of cake. Most bakers will not do it, and either serve the cake as a ring, or bake a new cake in a square pan.

rumtscho
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