How big should the cake be?
As big as possible was my opinion, but use whatever fits your needs. The ring shape is achieved by placing a smaller pan inside a larger and baking the batter in the gap between the two. Just make sure that the large pan will fit in your oven, and sit level. I use a 17” and 12” pan. These are both 3” deep with false bottoms, also referred to as cheesecake pans. A springform would also work for the larger pan. Proportions are important. As I learned in my first cake, if the center hole is too small, the cake looks like a giant doughnut. My first effort had a 10” hole, was approx. 4.5” tall, with the 17” exterior diameter. I drastically beveled the edges of the cake because I wanted to reduce the apparent depth of the cake, and the angles I chose made the resemblance to a doughnut worse. I decided that the new cake would be 17” exterior, 12” interior, and 5-5.5” tall. During assembly, I realized that it would be too tall, and I subsequently left out a layer, resulting in a 3 lay
