The Every Pan Cake Batter

Today I’m taking a page from Aunt Dede’s cookbook. 

I’m quite literally taking notes from my aunt’s loose pages of  large-print handwritten recipes.  

See, Aunt Dede was a baking legend in my life and, if you’ve baking anything from my site, she’s a baking legend in your life too. 

Dede baked every birthday cake for every Wilson family member for as long as I can remember. It was a ritual. It was a birthright. It was just the way things were done because, despite being blind, Dede made THE BEST CAKES. 

As a kid, I studied Dede’s hands and movements, watching her bake in the kitchen when we both knew dang well that I was supposed to be practicing piano in the other room. As an adult, I’ve poured over her hand-written recipes, finding ways to make her recipes my own.  

Dede found ways to keep things familiar to herself in the kitchen, always working from the same recipes and keeping ingredients exactly where she could find them again. This familiarity was also super efficient, like… just stick with a good thing you know, right? 

We came to understand that Dede’s pound cake, birthday cake, and loaf cake were actually all the same delicious cake, with light variations in spices and in the pan she used.  She was a great baker, but also just plain smart. 

I’ve adapted Dede’s famed cake recipe to be your every pan, every occasion cake! The base is big enough to be an epic sheet cake, and easily divided in half to be a single layer round cake, a loaf, or a batch of muffins. 

We’re smart. We’ve efficient. We’re filling our ovens with cake! Here’s how! 

Our post today is brought to you by my friends at All-Clad. 

We’re using the All-Clad Pro Release Bakeware Set to make cake every which way! The Pro Release Bakeware Set is 10-pieces of every baking pan you need in the kitchen. It’s all beautiful, non-stick, durable, and high-end enough to have in your kitchen for actual ever. 

Today I’ll show you how I bake with a handful of these pan using one cake recipe. We’ll make muffins, a loaf, and a festive upside down cake. Proof positive that with one recipe and a good set of pans, you’re bound for delicious success in the kitchen! 

We’ll start by making our cake batter. 

There are a few pro baker tips when it comes to making this cake batter: 

•   This cake batter is a combination of butter and shortening. I know shortening isn’t the most popular baking fat these days, but it’s really integral to this cake. Shortening adds a tenderness and longevity to this cake that I find essential. It helps keep the cake moist for DAYS.  

•  Beat the shortening in a mixer by itself, softening and spreading the fat across the mixing bowl.  Add the softened butter and sugar and cream on medium speed for a good 5 minutes.  We’re not just mixing ingredients, we’re beginning to aerate the batter which will help create a light, lifted, tender cake. 

•  Once the fats and sugar are well aerated, beat in the eggs, one at a time, one medium speed, for 1 minute each. I know this feels fussy when we have five whole eggs to incorporate but there’s science at work here. Eggs are a major contributor to the rise of this cake. Incorporating each egg very well will help give the egg whites the power they need to make this cake rise in the oven.  In this cake, the eggs are actually more important than the baking powder! 

Pictured above is the batter after the eggs have been thoroughly incorporated. See how light and fluffy it looks? It also looks a touch curdled, that’s normal at this stage.  

Now let’s bring in the dry ingredients. 

In a bowl, we’ll whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. 

Part of our success is evenly incorporating the dry ingredients so, even though we’re dirtying another bowl, we’re going to whisk together the dry. I know I know but… dishes are just a fact of life. 

Add half of the dry ingredients, slowly stream in the milk, and finish by incorporating the final half of the flour mixture. 

Stop the mixer, scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl and finish by beating the batter on high for about 45 seconds. 

Blitz it to make sure everything is well combined and well fluffed. 

Pictured above is the final finished cake batter. 

Now the exciting work of figuring out what to do with this cake batter! 

This is one big ol’ batch of batter! Enough to bake a 12-cup bundt cake or a 9×13-inch sheet cake.  

For smaller cakes, like 8-inch square, 9-inch rounds, or 12 muffins – we’ll divide the dough in half. 

You can divide the dough in half by eye-balling it, but I like to measure to be sure. 

Full cake batter batch = about 1704 grams  Half batch = about 852 grams. 

I love few things more than a simple single layer round cake.

The All-Clad 8-inch round cake pan (with handles THANK GOODNESS) is the perfect baking vessel for a festive Cranberry Upside Down Cake. 

We’ll start by making a quick stovetop caramel of brown sugar and butter. Spread along the bottom of a round pan. 

Add about 1 1/2 cups of fresh cranberries to the caramel in the pan.  

I like to add a hint of orange zest to my 1/2 batch of cake batter. It’s optional but I love the brightness it adds. 

Spread cake batter across the top of the cranberries, leaving just about 3/4- inch of room at the top of the pan. 

Spread to an even layer, place on a baking sheet, and bake until the top of the cake is golden brown and the edges bubble a bit with cranberry sweetness. 

Allow the cake to cool for just 7 to 10 minutes. 

We want the cake a touch warm when we flip it upside down.  

Place a platter across the top of the cake pan and, with a wish and a prayer, invert the cake so the platter is on the counter. 

Gently lift the cake pan, releasing the cake. 

Take a peek, every good baker must. 

I let out a little yelp every time I manage to get a cake out of it’s pan successfully. 

Feels good every.single.time. 

This cake is absolutely delicious on its own. 

Upside Down Cranberry Cake is simple enough to have an an everyday holiday cake, but you can also fancy it up with a swoop of whipped cream if you’re feeling extra luxurious. 

Serve warm. Serve at room temperature. Anyway you serve, especially with a cup of coffee or tea,  it’s lovely. 

Let me show what else we can make with our All-Clad Pro Release Bakeware Set! 

Bonus! They’re all super nonstick so there’s no need to grease the pans or fuss with parchment paper! 

I love bakeware with handles! 

I feel like All-Clad understand that I’m reaching into the oven with a big mitten hand and don’t want to dent my baked goods with my mitten thumb. The handle makes going in and out of the oven and easy as it should be. 

Please welcome the Lemon Matcha Loaf!  

A half batch of our Every Pan Cake Batter is divided in two and mixed with either lemon zest or matcha powder. Layer the batter in a loaf pan, swirl just slightly, and bake the batter into the most delicious pound cake loaf! 

A half batch of Every Pan Cake Batter also make 12 very fine breakfast muffins. 

These are Zucchini Molasses Spice Muffins. 

Simply divide your half batch of batter in two. To one  bowl of batter add 2 tablespoons of molasses, 1/2 cup shredded zucchini, and 1/2 teaspoon each of ground cinnamon and ground ginger!

Our last variation is a simple 8×8-inch square cake. Another everyday cake or maybe it’s a small birthday cake (for all that small celebrations we’re having this year). 

It’s Chocolate Cinnamon Marble Cake!

Take a half batch of Every Pan Cake Batter, divide that batter in two and add 3 tablespoon of cocoa powder to one bowl.  Add 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and stir to combine. Layer in the square baking dish for a simple yet impressive snacking cake! 

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