How to prepare a cake pan using a cake collar

Preparing your cake pan using a cake collar is every cake decorator’s secret weapon. You are probably wondering (if you don’t know already) what in the world is a cake collar? As a baker, I think everyone should know how to collar a cake pan. What if I told you that this was the thing you have been waiting for? Have you ever baked a cake and it does not rise all the way to the top of the pan? Have you measured your cake lately? Does it reach 4 inches? If your answer is no, then you need to start using a cake collar.

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What is a Cake Collar?

Collaring is a simple technique. Parchment paper is used to line the pan just above the height of the cake. Collaring the pan allows the cake to rise to the height of the pan. The cake can rise even higher depending on the amount of batter.

Be Careful: A Google search for cake collar leads to acetate cake collars. This type of cake collar while it’s similar cannot be used in the oven. Acetate cake collars are most often used for molding mousse cakes or to put together other soft desserts.

For a long time, I could not understand why my cake did not rise and my cake layers were less than 2 inches. Plus, once the cakes are leveled, the layer was even shorter. Another thing that I realized was that some recipes even though it called for 2 8-inch pans did not have enough batter. This can be very frustrating. As a result, I had to increase the batter in my recipes by either a quarter or a half. (See my chart here). Ever since I started using a cake collar baking my cake layer has been great. The only downside is that the cakes bake for a little bit longer. But, I can afford to wait if I am going to get the results I need. The secret is to bake low and slow.

Cake Collar Experiment

I performed a cake experiment to prove that the cake collar works. For the experiment, I baked a 2 layer 8-inch cake with even batter amounts and filled the cake pans 3/4 of the way. One cake layer was baked without the collar and the other with the collar. The cakes were baked at 250 degrees Fahrenheit for about 30 minutes. I did not use the Wilton bake even strips for this experiment.

The Result: You guessed it, the cake layer with the collar baked much higher. The cake with the collar was at least a half an inch higher.

Cakes side by side. The cake baked with the collar is located on the right.

Did you notice how much higher the cake baked with the collar was? A picture below with measurement.

Items needed:

Steps to Collaring the Cake Pan

Cut parchment strips to about 3 inches wide. Reynolds parchment paper now has lines to cut, so you can use the lines as a guide. If you have a smaller oven, check the height before you fill the cake pan with batter. The length of the cake collar depends on the circumference of the cake pan. For example, an eight inch round pan has a circumference of 25 inches. The calculation is πD (pi x diameter) or (8×3.14). See the chart below.

Spray the cake pan with nonstick spray, then add a piece of parchment circle to the bottom of the pan and line the side of pan with the cake collar. A neat trick is once you place the parchment circle or collar in the pan flip the circle/collar around so that the oiled side is on top or on the outer section. You will need more than one piece of parchment paper to line the pan.

Use cooking spray to get the parchment paper layers to stick together and make sure the cake collar pieces overlap slightly. Make sure there are no open spaces.

Fill the cake pan about ¾ of the way with cake batter. Adjust the baking time for about 10 minutes more than the usual, but keep checking just to make sure. Then watch the magic happen. I promise you won’t go back.

Leave a comment below if you have tried it and loved it. Happy caking.