Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

What is Best Oven Setting for Cupcakes and Cakes?

Should you cook your cake with both the lower and upper heater of the oven on or just one?
If just one which?
and on which rack to put the cake while baking?
Also if baking two cakes together what oven settings to use!

CakeFlix Guidance

What is the best oven setting for cupcakes?

Use the baking mode and temperature specified in your recipe. Both conventional top-and-bottom heat and fan baking can produce good cupcakes, provided you use the appropriate temperature. Avoid the grill setting, which supplies intense heat from above.

For example, many cupcake recipes specify 180°C conventional, 160°C fan or gas mark 4. This is a common combination, rather than the correct temperature for every recipe.

Should you use top and bottom heat for cakes?

For conventional baking in an electric oven, top-and-bottom heat is a suitable starting point. It usually has a symbol showing two horizontal lines, representing the upper and lower heating elements.

Select the combined baking function rather than the grill or bottom element alone. Bottom-only heat has other uses, but is not the usual choice for evenly baking a sponge.

Symbols vary between appliances. Check your manual or consult Bosch’s oven symbols guide for examples of common functions.

Is a fan oven good for baking cupcakes?

Yes. Fan ovens circulate heated air and can be particularly useful when baking on more than one shelf, where the manufacturer recommends this.

If a recipe gives only a conventional temperature, reducing it by around 20°C is a common starting point. However, follow any fan temperature already supplied: do not reduce it a second time.

A fan symbol can also appear alongside a grill symbol, so make sure you have selected fan baking.

Which oven shelf should you use?

For one tray of cupcakes, start with the middle shelf unless your recipe or manual says otherwise.

For a tall cake, position the shelf so the cake itself sits roughly in the centre of the oven. Leave space around tins for heat to circulate, and avoid placing them directly against the oven walls.

Our guide to baking a cake in one tin instead of two explains how depth affects baking time.

Can you bake two cakes or cupcake trays together?

Yes, if your oven has enough space and supports the arrangement. Two tins can sit on one shelf without touching. For multiple shelves, follow your appliance’s recommended baking mode and shelf positions.

Check each tin separately for doneness. Avoid opening the door early or moving delicate cakes before their structure has set.

How can you get more consistent results?

Preheat fully and consider an oven thermometer if your results suggest the temperature is inaccurate. Keep notes on settings and timings.

Use our cake calculators when adjusting quantities, explore caster sugar substitutes for ingredient questions, and develop your skills through the CakeFlix Diploma.

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Hi ishikasaraf

I don’t know anything about top and bottom heat ovens but if you look here http://www.which.co.uk/home-and-garden/kitchen/guides/how-to-buy-the-best-oven/oven-symbols-and-controls/ the explanation given makes sense. Cakes are normally baked on the middle shelf at the temperature given in the recipe. If your oven has a fan you will need to adjust the temperature by approx 20 degrees so if recipe says 160c the adjustment for a fan oven would be 140c. That’s because fan ovens circulate the heat all around the oven cavity and bake slightly quicker. I don’t think the oven setting would be any different in your type oven whether you’re baking one or two cakes on the same shelf. The information in the link says which settings to use for the different types of food by following the control symbols. You will probably understand it better than I do. If you have an oven manufacturer’s manual that would definitely give the correct way to use your particular oven. There may also be information online for your make and model oven just have a little google. I hope the info in the link helps but just keep in mind that it is general information and all ovens are different.

Hi,
Just to let you know I bake all my cakes with top and bottom heat.
I always get great resluts using this method rather than fan. I bake, not directly on the middle shelf, but on one slightly lower, then the cake will be in the middle of the oven. If you bake two together, keep them on the same shelf and keep them the same size of cakes. If I am baking a 6″ or 8″ I always bake seperately because of baking times.
You just have to experiment and find what is best for you.
Happy Baking

Thank you so much for clearing oven settings a bit for me. I am 18 and love everything to do with baking and cake decoration. Hoping to become a permanent member of the sugar craft school soon! 😀