This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy.
As beautiful and impressive as they are, sometimes you just don’t want to bake an entire layer cake.
The construction and decorating of a layer cake, let alone the stress of transporting it anywhere, can be a hassle. Even slicing and serving a cake at a party can be a whole production.
Cupcakes are easier, quicker, and less stressful – especially when serving a crowd! They’re perfect for outdoor gatherings like picnics or kids’ birthday parties. Not everyone wants an entire slice of cake to themselves… but I know few people who will turn down a cupcake!
This article will show you how to transform a cake recipe into cupcakes.
Sprinkle of Science
How to Convert Cake into Cupcakes (and Cupcakes into Cake!)
Conversion Guidelines:
The below yields and baking times are approximations and will vary depending on the recipe used, how much you fill your cupcake pan’s cavities, and even the brand of baking pan used. These guidelines can be used both ways so that you can convert any cake recipe into cupcakes, and any cupcake recipe into a cake. Use the sensory indications given by the original recipe for doneness to assess the baking time, such as using a cake tester or toothpick or observing the color or texture.
Three 6-inch round cake layers = 24 standard cupcakes
- Standard cupcakes: Bake 18 to 22 minutes at 350°F
- 6-inch round cake: Bake 25 to 30 minutes at 350°F
Two 8-inch round cake layers = 18 to 24 standard cupcakes
- Standard cupcakes: Bake 18 to 22 minutes at 350°F
- 8-inch round cake: Bake 30 to 35 minutes at 350°F
Two 9-inch round cake layers = 24 standard cupcakes
- Standard cupcakes: Bake 18 to 22 minutes at 350°F
- 9-inch round cake: Bake 25 to 30 minutes at 350°F
One 10-inch bundt pan = 24 cupcakes
- Standard cupcakes: Bake 18 to 22 minutes at 350°F
- 10-inch bundt pan: Bake 50 to 60 minutes at 350°F
One 9 by 13-inch baking pan = 24 to 36 standard cupcakes
- Standard cupcakes: Bake 18 to 22 minutes at 350°F
- 9 by 13-inch pan: Bake 30 minutes at 350°F
Conversion Guidelines for MINI Cupcakes:
- Three 6-inch round cake layers = 72 mini cupcakes
- Two 8-inch round cake layers = 54-72 mini cupcakes
- Two 9-inch round cake layers = 72 mini cupcakes
- One 10-inch bundt pan = 72 mini cupcakes
- One 9 by 13-inch baking pan: 72-108 mini cupcakes
- Bake mini cupcakes for 9 to 12 minutes at 350°F
Conversion Guidelines for JUMBO Cupcakes:
- Three 6-inch round cake layers = 12 jumbo cupcakes
- Two 8-inch round cake layers = 9-12 jumbo cupcakes
- Two 9-inch round cake layers = 12 jumbo cupcakes
- One 10-inch bundt pan = 12 jumbo cupcakes
- One 9 by 13-inch baking pan: 12-24 jumbo cupcakes
- Bake jumbo cupcakes for 22 minutes at 350°F
Best Cake Recipes to Make as Cupcakes:
Recipes You Shouldn’t Turn Into Cupcakes:
- Angel Food Cake – This must be baked in a special unlined aluminum angel food cake tube pan to turn out as intended.
- Flourless chocolate cake – Cupcakes need flour to provide structure and stability.
- Pound cakes – These are generally too dense for the shape of cupcakes.
- Sponge cakes – These will be short and dry as cupcakes.
How to Prepare Cupcakes from a Cake Recipe
Step 1: Prepare Batter
Prepare the batter normally as the recipe directs. No need to make any changes unless you’re scaling a layer cake recipe down for fewer cupcakes.
Step 2: Fill Cupcake Tin
- Line your cupcake tins with paper liners (check out my post on how to prevent cupcakes and muffins from sticking to the liners. Liners are important not just to prevent sticking, but for all the cupcakes to rise properly). These are my favorite cupcake liners.
- Fill cupcake cavities two thirds to three quarters full of batter.
- Underfilled cupcake pans can result in short, dry cupcakes.
- Overfilling can result in a sunken middle or cupcake tops that conjoin while baking.
- Use a mixing bowl with a spout or a spring-loaded scoop to make quick and efficient work of filling your cavities.
Step 3: Baking Time and Temperature
- Bake at the same temperature called for in the recipe.
- If converting from an 8 or 9-inch layer cake recipe, you’ll only need to reduce the baking time by about 10 to 15 percent.
- If baking from a 9 by 13-inch cake recipe, you’ll need to reduce the baking time more.
- Generally, most cupcake recipes bake in 17 to 20 minutes.
- Start at the low end, quickly test for doneness, and continue baking until done.
How to Tell When Cupcakes Are Done Baking:
- Cupcakes are done when a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a couple moist crumbs clinging.
- The internal temperature measured with an instant-read thermometer should be around 205° to 210°F.
- The tops should spring back lightly when pressed.
- Your cupcake may look ever so slightly moist on top – it should finish cooking from the residual heat when removed from the oven.
How Much Frosting Do Cupcakes Need?
One of the great joys of cupcakes is that you get more frosting per serving than a layer cake! You’ll need more frosting for cupcakes than a layer cake, especially if you like a fairly generous amount or plan to use a decorative piping tip.
Generally, you’ll need to double the frosting in a layer cake recipe when making cupcakes. Below are some rough conversions. I overestimated because it’s better to have too much frosting than not enough! Feel free to scale up by 1.5 instead of twice the amount.
- Three 6-inch or Two 8 or 9-inch cake layers = 3 cups frosting
- 12 cupcakes = 3 cups frosting (generous amount)
- 24 cupcakes = 6 cups frosting (generous amount)
Need a recipe? Check out my Best Buttercream Frosting or my Best Ever Cream Cheese Frosting!
Bonus Tips!
- Bake a test cupcake first. Portion out one cupcake and bake to assess how much to fill the pan cavity and how long to bake.
- Cake and cupcake recipes are sometimes formulated differently to suit their different purposes. When I’m creating a cupcake recipe, I like something a little sturdier to hold up to a generous amount of frosting, but with a looser, spongier crumb. With layer cakes, I like something with a tighter crumb. That’s why you may observe differences when looking at cake vs. cupcake recipes.
- This guide can be used both ways – so, this works for converting cupcakes into cake, but also for converting cake into cupcakes.
More Science of Baking Articles:
- How to Prevent Cakes & Cupcakes From Sinking
- Everything You Need to Know About Sugar in Baking
- How to Prevent Cupcake Liners from Sticking
- How to Measure Flour
This post was originally published in 2021 and has been updated with additional baking tips. Photos by Joanie Simon, Ashley McLaughlin, and Lauren Hansen.
When using a french vanilla cake mix for muffins I add in one cup of angel food cake mix..and top muffins with french vanilla icing.
And need to hide a few to get any..they go so fast
Dear Tessa,
Love your blog which teaches me extra Science knowledge. Thanks for sharing! I am wonder if you could advise how to convert Cake to mini cake as our friends tend to have mini cake instead of cutting into pieces normal whole cake. Any recommendation?? Thanks!
Hi Wendy! So glad to hear that you’re loving Tessa’s tips and information!! We don’t have a great deal of experience baking mini cakes, and the answer to your question will differ between each size of mini cake, and the specific recipe you’re using. I would recommend following Tessa’s instructions for the regular or jumbo-sized cupcakes, depending on your pans’ sizes. You may need to bake a little longer, but follow the sensory indicators in the recipe (eg ‘bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean’ etc.) more closely than the time given. I hope that’s helpful! Happy baking 🙂
Hi,
Been looking for a chocolate cupcake recipe without cocoa powder. Glad i found this. My query… I dont want to do any frosting. Want to eat the cupcake as it is. Do I need to increase the sugar to compensate?
Hi there! Enjoying a cupcake without frosting is totally up to you/personal preference, but changing the levels of sugar in baked goods will have big results – learn more about this here.
I made cupcakes with this recipe. Super delicious! 350 degrees for 20min and half the frosting recipe was perfect for exactly 24 cupcakes!
I tasted a recipe for a lemon cake that was really light and fluffy; it only had very limited instructions. I have tried to get it light and fluffy but it always seems to come out much firmer than the one I tasted and I think it may be in the combining of ingredient and whisking it. It has gluten free flour 240 gms SF flour, 300 caster Sugar, 25 gms dark rum, rinds of 3 lemons, 140 gms heavy cream, 250 gms eggs, 40gms rapeseed oil and 40 gms unsalted butter, salt. the instructions are to whisk the eggs, cream and sugar then add flour, then run and butter and oil, whisk until combined and that is it. The one I tasted was the lightest cake I have ever had and the most delicious. I can get the top half of the lemon cake fluffy but it is denser below. I was wondering – do you think you have to beat your eggs with the sugar and cream (mine came out runny) or just the eggs and sugar and then add cream and rest of ingredients or do you think there is another way to get this light and fluffy. I have tried lots of different experiment but with no such luck. Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated. very best Jay. PS love your site.!!
Hi Jay! Every cake is different, and many cakes have many different methods of preparing, so it’s really hard to say. Most American cakes, for example, will generally ask you to cream the butter/sugar together, then whisk in the eggs, and lastly the dry ingredients (flour, salt, leavening agent, etc). Your cake directions there are very different from that! So, that being said, Handle the Heat’s universal best tips for cake success are:
– Don’t overmix! Incorporate flour with a light hand and fold it in very gently. Overmixing will always result in a denser, heavier cake.
– It looks like you’re already doing this from the measurements you have listed there, but always weigh your ingredients. Don’t measure by volume. Tessa talks about why this is so important in this article here!
– Make sure your leavening agents are fresh. Expired baking powder/baking soda won’t lift your cake to be light and fluffy! Tessa talks about this, and how to test for freshness, in this article here!
I hope that helps! Good luck on your adventures to make the perfect cake! 🙂
Hi! Based on the above, if I wanted to convert the peppermint mocha cupcake recipe into a two layer 8 inch cake, I think I should double the cupcake recipe correct? 1.5 times seems to little for two 8 inch cakes. Can you confirm?
Hi Sky! The yield for our Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes is 15 cupcakes. Two 8-inch round cake layers = 18 to 24 cupcakes, but just to be safe, I’d recommend doubling the cupcake recipe. You can always bake up any remaining batter into cupcakes to “taste test” 🙂 I hope that helps! Please let us know how it goes!
How much Ice cream is needed to add ice cream to a half sheet cake?
We haven’t tried that, so I can’t say for sure! I’d suggest looking online for an ice cream sheet cake recipe and following how much is used in their recipe. Sorry I can’t help more!
how to convert a recipe for 30 cupcakes to make a 2 layer half sheet cake?
For a large sheet cake (or two half sheets), you would use about 1.5 times the recipe for an 8” cake, and one 8” cake = 9-12 standard cupcakes per our guide. You’ll have to experiment with your specific cupcake recipe to test out exactly how much you’ll need for sure, and be sure to keep an eye on your cakes as they bake as the timing will be a bit longer for a sheet cake. I hope that helps!
How do I convert a cupcake recipe to make a 2 layer 12 x 18 inch cake?
Hi Kathy! A 12×18-inch baking pan is about double the area of a 9×13-inch baking pan. With that in mind, you should be able to follow along with the cupcakes to 9×13-inch baking pan guidelines, just know that the amount you’re looking for will almost be quadrupled (due to two layers), and your timing will be a bit different due to the different sized pan. I’d suggest experimenting with one 12×18-inch pan first to ensure you’ve got the timing down. Hope that helps!
Hello, I love your recipes! Just a quick question, if a cake recipe calls for 3 large eggs and 1 egg white and I am making it into cupcakes and want to cut the recipe in half. How do I determine how may eggs and egg white? Thank you in advance
Hi Victoria! If you need to cut a recipe in half that calls for one large egg, crack the egg into a small bowl and beat well. Let it settle, then measure out two tablespoons for the recipe. You would do the same for egg whites, but half of an egg white equals approximately 1 tablespoon. Hope that helps!
What is the conversion from cake to jumbo cupcakes. Thanks
Just added this to the post, thanks Patti! 🙂