What is the Secret of Unmoldings Cakes?

Lining the bottoms of flat-bottom pans with parchment paper helps a lot.

Jim Lahue

"Raj V" wrote in message news:JK3Td.40970$ snipped-for-privacy@fe1.texas.rr.com...

I never have problems releasing cans from their pans. You don't have to fool around with boiling water or other BS. First of all, I can't ever remember reading a recipe with instructions to spray the pan with a light coating of oil. The instructions universally say to butter or grease the pan. Here is what I do. I grease the pan with solid shortening. Then, I line the bottom with parchment cut to fit the pan. Then I grease the parchment and add some flour. I shake the pan to distribute the flour and turn it over, dump the flour, and tap the pan on a surface to release the extra flour. My cans always release. For pans that you can't line with parchment, like a bundt pan, you need to use a GENEROUS coating of solid shortening and then follow with flour. You can't be skimpy with the shortening. If you want to streamline the process a bit, you can combine equal amounts of shortening and flour (i.e., put a cup of flour and a cup of shortening in the mixer and combine). The resulting mixture is called "pan grease" and can be rubbed on or brushed onto the pans. A more expensive and less satisfactory approach is to use a product called "Baker's Joy." This is an aerosol mixture of oil and flour. PAM has a similar product. Neither of these products will do as reliable a job as shortening. I know that people will have a conniption about using, gasp, hydrogenated shortening. If that is an issue, you can use the new Crisco or Smart Balance. Butter and lard are also good alternative.

Come on, it says so right on the back of the box, even specifies PAM sometimes :-)

I've met bakers (probably related to some, don't recall) who keep around a few boxes of cake mix for the purpose of dusting with something other than plain white flour.

I've been dusting brownie pans with cocoa for a while, it works well. I was afraid that the bitterness of my non-dutch-process cocoa powder was going to end up being too bitter on the tongue, but somehow it's not an issue.

Unfortunately, i have a couple years of technical support experience under my belt, and try as i might to suppress those memories, I am forced by my training to point out something that should be obvious. It's not because, on a rational level, I've made a logical decision that the OP is ignorant - it's just habit.

Cakes are a bit easier to release from their pans when fully cooled. The OP *was letting it cool fully before flipping it out, right? It's easy to get impatient.

I also suspect that super-emulsified cake mixes (duncan hines, etc) make cakes that tear more easily, or are more sticky, or something.

I'm sure that when Proctor and Gable still produced Duncan Hines mixed, they probably specified PAM!

That's a new one to me.

Yes. I started down that road, but I thought it would muddy the waters.

I do try to wait 10 minutes before releasing the cake. As you say, the cake is stronger after cooling. I think that you can have problems if you let the cake fully cool in the pan. I speculate that the cake steams in the pan, creating a sticky layer that attaches to the pan. That's been my experience although the theory may be wrong.

That could be the case. It's actually been a while since i made a cake. There are Other People in my family who are the designated cake suppliers at gatherings so i typically only bake a cake when I get a hankering for pineapple upside-down - which is of course a whole other shooting match.

If the OP's counter is getting steamed by the cake when it sits on the cooling rack, might that indicate that it's too hot still?

Maybe the trick is to wait until the pan is cool enough to handle but not so long that the cake itself is room temperature, which is generally what i end up doing since i somehow can't manage to keep actual potholders in the kitchen and i find it difficult to flip out a cake while holding it with bunched up towels.

I'm pretty sure my brother Steve used to flip them over onto the rack and let them sit upside-down in the pan for a few minutes before gently lifting the pan off.

Yes. That's what I do. After lifting off the pan, I put another rack on top of the cake and flip them back to their original orientation.

Spraying with a liquid oil I think is part of the problem. That only makes a thin film and the oil will tend simply to be absorbed by the cake as it bakes, so there's no oil surface left to ease release.

The key points are to grease thoroughly using *lots* of butter and then flour generously as well. I put on enough butter that you can visibly see the layer at every point. Ideally, the layer is slightly opaque because of the thickness. Then I flour until the grease won't pick up any more flour. If I'm baking a chocolate cake, I use cocoa. Generally speaking these methods are so effective that upon release you can read any logo that was embossed into the bottom of the pan.

I don't know about Bundt pans. I have not made anything with a Bundt pan.

For all the square, rectangular and round pans I usually cut a piece of parchment paper to cover the bottom of the pan. I then lightly oil the entire pan with vegetable oil. I place the parchment paper in the pan.

After the cake has finished baking I take it out and place the pan on a rack for 15 minutes. During the 15 minute cooling period I'll check the cake to see if it is pulling away from the sides. If it is I run a paring knife around the sides to help it out. If not, I run the paring knife around the pan after it has cooled (usually 15 minutes does it but I touch it to be sure).

I'll put another rack over the pan and flip the whole thing over. If it doesn't fall right out I'll leave it while I do something else (make the frosting, some rosettes, etc.). When I can life the pan off without lifting the cake I do so.

The parchment paper will stick to the cake. I'll gently peel this off and I'm done.

I don't know if this is the best way to do it but it certainly works for me.

I have occasionally created cakes using special molded cake pans (Dora the Explorer or Mickey Mouse). For those I use a commerical spray designed for releasing cakes from molded pans. I'm not sure of the name and I've only seen it in a specialty store that sells bulk, commerical supplies.

I have been making cakes for many years and they have rarely ever stuck. The procedure is as above, greasing and flouring the pans. I really don't think it makes a difference if you use butter or oil or Pam. I usually use butter if there is butter in the cake, and oil if its an oil based cake as many bundt pans are. Cool the cake and turn over on a rack for a while. Sometimes its helpful to stick a knife around the edges between the cake and the pan.

I think a big difference is using a non stick pan. I have an ancient bundt pan that is very heavy and it can be hard to get the cake out of the pan. I recently bought a new non stick nordic ware bundt (they had them at TJ maxx) and I sprayed it with Pam and the cake slid right out.

I have been making cakes for many years and they have rarely ever stuck. The procedure is as above, greasing and flouring the pans. I really don't think it makes a difference if you use butter or oil or Pam. I usually use butter if there is butter in the cake, and oil if its an oil based cake as many bundt pans are. Cool the cake and turn over on a rack for a while. Sometimes its helpful to stick a knife around the edges between the cake and the pan.

I think a big difference is using a non stick pan. I have an ancient bundt pan that is very heavy and it can be hard to get the cake out of the pan. I recently bought a new non stick nordic ware bundt (they had them at TJ maxx) and I sprayed it with Pam and the cake slid right out.

Wow, what a lot of good ideas. Ask and yee shall receive. I'll try them all.

Call me lazy, ahh, call me what you wish, but cutting out round parchments is such a hassle for an industrial strength clutz as myself. I saw pre-cut rounds on a cooking show but I can't find them at the local groceries or William Sonoma. Does anyone have a source for parchment rounds? I mean they are such a darned good idea!

Thanks again for the responses.

Raj V

You can get pan liners in a variety of sizes at cake supply stores like

Click on the "Paper, etc." tab at the left and scroll down the page for the parchment pan liners.

I like to use a mechanical pencil, the ones with a thin metal tip, place the round pan on the parchment then trace around the pan with the pencil. I can then cut out the circle a little smaller than the drawing. This makes it small enough to fit on the inside of the pan and it eliminates the pencil lead from the parchment paper.

If I was baking a lot I might consider buying precut parchment. Otherwise, I cannot see wasting the money. Mind you, I'd never shop at William Sonoma either; they charge way too much.