Yes — in a small pan that leaves air all round it, usually 6 or 7 inches. The fan browns the top early, so bake about 25 °F lower than the oven recipe says, and check sooner.
What actually limits it
Pan size. A cake pan has to leave a gap all round or the air cannot circulate — and then it is a small oven with a fan blowing on the lid of a box, which is a worse oven.
Measure the basket floor, not the rim. Baskets taper. In most drawer air fryers the floor takes a 6- or 7-inch round pan; a square drawer sometimes takes a small loaf pan.
What the appliance does differently from an oven
Faster surface browning, because the air moves. That is the reason a cake can color before the middle is done — and why the two fixes are the same everywhere: a lower temperature, and foil over the top once it has the color you want.
What to expect
A firmer top crust and a shorter bake. It is a genuinely different result rather than a worse one — closer to a muffin top than to a layer cake.
The alternative in the same kitchen
An air-fry toaster oven. Its cavity is a flat box rather than a tapered drawer, so it takes a normal pan. On this site the BLACK+DECKER 5-in-1 at $61.99 and the Hamilton Beach at $59.95 both air fry and bake, and both take a 9-inch pizza — so an 8-inch cake pan fits. For the pans themselves, see the baking tins and molds page.
If baking is the main use, that is the appliance.
And the recipe itself
Times and temperatures for a particular cake come from the recipe and from your appliance’s manual, not from this page.
Prices quoted in this text were read on 2026-10-18. The live price is at the top of the page.
What readers want to know
What size pan fits?
One that leaves at least half an inch of air all round, and that is a measurement of your basket floor rather than of its quarts. Baskets taper, so measure the floor. In most drawer air fryers that means a 6- or 7-inch round pan; an air-fry toaster oven that takes a 9-inch pizza, such as the BLACK+DECKER 5-in-1, takes an 8-inch square or round.
What temperature should I use?
Start about 25 °F below what the oven recipe says, and check earlier. The moving air browns the surface faster than a still oven does, so the top can set before the middle is done. If it is coloring too fast, lay a piece of foil loosely over the pan. The recipe and your manual have the final word.
How do I know it is done?
A toothpick in the center comes out clean, or an instant-read thermometer reads about 200 to 210 °F in the middle of most cakes. The ThermoMonster HT09 reads in half a second.
Last reviewed 18 October 2026