Fat Daddio's PHA-8 Anodized Aluminum Hemisphere Pan, 8 x 4 Inch

Worked great to make the top head of Minnie for my daughter's birthday cake!

This is another wonderful Fat Daddio pan. My particular order was wrong, but the pan is great. First, what is right: the pan, even though there isn't anything to hold it still, stays upright. I didn't use anything on the counter or in the oven and it still stayed upright--I was very gentle with it. I followed the directions/suggestions on the Fat Daddio website for baking. The only note is that even with a heating rod the cake needed to bake much longer than expected. I used Bakers Joy and the cake came out of the pan perfectly. The cake itself came out denser than the other cakes, but that's not necessarily an issue. Now what is odd. I wanted a smaller "ball" to sit on a 2-layer 9" cake so that there would be room for icing grass around it. When the pan arrived, it wasn't the 6.5" I ordered but as I was on a time crunch, I went with it. The label says 6.5", but the pan itself is labeled "8" and the measurement is 8". If I hadn't already baked the 2 9" layers, I would have used a 14" square base instead but in this case time and inclement weather encouraged making-do. Later I contacted Fat Daddio, who responded immediately and were very helpful and kind. Turns out the sticker added to the label was by the seller and it is covering up a large "8." UPDATE: The seller, Cake Supplies on Sale, sent me the 6.5" pan after I reached out to them, so wonderful customer service by them, resolving an initial mistake very well by having me keep the 8" pan. Fat Daddio's pans themselves are made well and work well, and I'll continue to invest in them.

I make a snowball cake and was looking for the right pan, this is it!

This bakes a round cake up really well. I’m not an avid baker, but I’ve used these pans a small handful of times now, and I’ve even used gluten free baking mixes with it and everything has come out evenly and soft. I have seen some people use a heating rod in the middle but I haven't had to do that with any of my cakes. They can take a little longer for the baking process but this has been fine. They do have a rounded bottom but they have sat fairly steady on my oven grates without spilling. My smaller five inch ones are totally rounded on the bottom and my bigger 8 inch has a small flat indent on the bottom slightly bigger than my thumb print. I’ve never put them inside anything or on a stand to get them in the oven. These have held up well also. I don’t see any issues with the finish after using them several times. I do hand wash everything, so I can’t speak to how they would do in a dishwasher. Overall these fit my need just right and I was able to make some decent tasting (and more importantly per my children - pretty cool looking) cakes. Photos are attached of cool cakes with round cake parts.

I received my pan today and I haven't had the opportunity to bake in it yet, but I have other pans from Fat Daddio and the quality is very nice! The pans are a quality thickness but not too thick so they're usually perfect for cakes. I was surprised that there's no stabilizer bottom on the underneath of the pan -- still trying to think of a creative way to keep this heap of batter from toppling in my oven when I bake my soccer cake tomorrow night, thankfully some of the other reviewers gave some helpful hints (maybe use a bowl perhaps?) The dome on this pan is seriously round -- there is NO flat to it so it'll be tricky to keep it upright without some thought and preparation.... It shipped alone, no instruction regarding temperature or approximate baking times, etc. I think I'll try turning my oven down a bit (300-325 degrees)and baking a little slower so not to over-brown or over-dry my finished product (wish me luck)! And as always use a light dusting of baking spray to keep the cake from sticking. I ordered the 8" x 4" size, and it's a really nice size, looks like it'll make a lifesize soccer ball. Overall I'm happy, but a few thought out little details would have made this a five-star rating! Love the fact that I can use this dome pan for much more than just a soccer / basketball pan... So many possibilities!

Works great once you learn how to use it. I will start by saying that, as far as dome pans go, this one is of excellent quality and there is nothing wrong with the design of the pan itself. Although, I learned while making a watermelon shaped cake for my son's birthday that there are some quirks to account for, and I did end up having to discard my first attempt and sculpt a few layer cakes because my cake would not bake through. The middle turned to a puddle of bubbling goo, while the edges turned brown. For my second attempt with this pan, I made a BB-8 cake and needed a perfect dome shape for the head. I invested in a heating rod (highly recommend it if you're using a dome pan) and I also used a thicker batter than the first attempt, and only filled it about half full. I used a layer of regular 9" round cake for height. I also reduced the heat from 350 to 330 for the first 40 minutes then turned up to 350 until it was finished (about another 15-20). I got the perfect dome I needed and the cake cooked perfectly. This pan does not include a stabilizer, but I found that using the thicker batter, (which really works best anyway), if you spread the batter where it needs to be, tipping in the oven is not an issue. While using a dome pan can be a challenge, it's not a design flaw in this particular pan. Any large dome pan will carry the same issues. You just have to learn to work with them.

I desperately needed a sphere cake pan for my sons pikachu cake. I bought two of these, totally worth the money. They are durable and not incredibly thin so they don’t dent unless you do something that would ruin them. You have to hand wash them of course like majority of cake pans and I do recommend setting them on-top of an either smaller round cake pan or a glass Pyrex bowl that would hold the pan so the batter stays even as it’s baking. It does take a little bit longer to bake the cake in it. I usually do convection bake and that takes longer anyway. But this is by far the best hemisphere cake pan I’ve ever used. I also recommend like I do with all of my cake pans, to coat the inside with Crisco then pour some flour into the pan and turn the pan around until the flour covers all of the crisco, dump out the excess flour then take some parchment paper, cut it into a circle big enough to fit in the pan and then pour the batter. It helps the cake come out of the pan A LOT easier.

It did the job, but would have been better if there were any instructions on filling and baking for optimal results. It is very hard to bake in pans this size to get the center done. Their website was not real helpful either. I wish they included a baking core which is really, really needed. The center baking rod that Fat Daddios does make and you must purchase separately, is not long enough to clear the cake. It also needs a ring to support the bottom so it sits correctly while baking. Next time I will just bake in a 9”, 8” and 7” pan and carve to round it.

This is perfect for a pokemon ball cake but it is very big. Once baked, it makes such a heavy cake, there is no way to make a complete round ball without any additional support as we found out. lol Great cake mold but the instructions are very lacking even on their website. It actually can take up to 2 cake mixes is what it boils down to.

Excelente producto, aunque un poco más chico de lo esperado, pero de uen calidad.

Meine Tochter wollte einen runden Kuchen als Apfel garniert. Mit dieser Backform hat das super funktioniert, so daß'ich sie gleich für den nächsten Geburtstag ebenfalls verwendet habe. Kam in der Schule prima an!

Pour le plaisir de la créativité.

Great product. Used to make a floating hot air balloon for a birthday cake!