Can I Bake The Honey Cake As A Sheet Cake?

Our answer

Nigella's recipe for Honey Cake (from FEAST) is actually made with golden syrup rather then honey, but it is a moist cake that Nigella serves with a butterscotch sauce. The cake is baked in a 25cm/10-inch springform cake tin. Normally you convert round cakes to square by taking 2cm or 1 inch off the tin dimensions. But as this cake is in a deep springform pan, it is more likely that you would need to use a 25cm/10-inch square pan for the cake batter.

Sheet cakes are usually slightly thinner than a cake from a springform pan, so it really depends on what size of cake pan you are using. If you are using a 33x23cm/13x9-inch rectangular pan (about 5cm/2 inches deep) then you will have a cake that is about 20-25% thinner than the regular round cake. Or you need to increase the recipe quantities by 20% (in which case, use two eggs and one yolk and reduce the milk to 285ml or 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons). If you are using a 28x18cm/11x7-inch pan then you will need to reduce the recipe by around 20%. The cake batter should never come more than halfway up the sides of the pan that you are using. If you have slightly more cake batter then bake the leftover batter as cupcakes. The baking time will vary according to the shape and size of pan that you use, but we would suggest baking for at least 30 minutes before checking. Once the cake looks risen and completely set and firm on top, you can carefully and gently start to check if it is done. The cake should be ready when a cake tester inserted into the centre comes out clean or with just a few damp crumbs attached. The one thing we would mention is that this cake does tend to sink back on cooling, so if it is a larger cake pan then the cake will probably sink slightly in the centre. This may not matter so much if you are cutting the cake into pieces to shape it. Please also note that as we have not tried the cake in square or rectangular pans, we are unable to guarantee the results.