Stuck cake! Help!

I greased and floured both 8-inch cake pans, according to instructions, and they both stuck. Both broke apart when I tried to get them out. Why did this happen, and how can I prevent this from happening in the future?

Kathi
  • Posted by: Kathi
  • March 3, 2019
  • 3293 views
  • 11 Comments

11 Comments

Smaug
Smaug March 5, 2019
Somewhat relevant to all this; for some things like brownies and sticky types of bar cookies, and some very sticky cakes, the best bet is to line the pan with aluminum foil all the way up the sides, so that the finished (and cooled) cake can be taken out whole and the foil peeled off. This can also be made to work with crumb crusts, which should be baked and frozen before being removed from the pan and the foil peeled off.
 
creamtea
creamtea March 3, 2019
Did you give them 10 minutes to cool on racks before turning them out?
Could you link to a recipe?
 
Kathi
Kathi March 4, 2019
I gave them even longer, since I got busy with other things. Should they still be slightly warm when you turn them out?https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/24972/davids-yellow-cake/?internalSource=hub%20recipe&referringContentType=Search&clickId=cardslot%204
 
creamtea
creamtea March 4, 2019
If you leave a standard (butter-type) cake in its pan for too long, it will often stick, even if the pan was greased and floured. On the other hand, if it is not allowed to cool enough, the cake is too fragile and may break when you try to remove it from the pan. Many cake recipes say to cool on a rack in the pan for about 10 minutes before inverting for these reasons. As Amanda says, the most reliable practice is to line the cake pan with parchment, which gives you a greater window of opportunity in case you get side-tracked! Many recipes say to grease and flour the pan (bottom and sides) as well as the parchment for extra security. Once baked and cooled slightly, you just cut around the sides with a small sharp knife to release. (Note that different cake varieties such as angel-food have a different "prescription" for cooling and de-panning).
 
Kathi
Kathi March 5, 2019
Wow. I never knew all this. Clearly, I left it in the pan too long (didn't know that was even a thing), and in the future, I will definitely use parchment paper. I also didn't know that different types of cakes require different methods, so I learned a lot on here. Thank you!
 
Amanda H.
Amanda H. March 3, 2019
Hi Kathi -- sorry to hear this! Are your pans steel or aluminum or some other material? What I do to prevent cakes from sticking is I put a parchment paper circle (cut to fit) in the base of the pan, then I butter and flour the entire interior of the pan. That way all you need to do is cut around the sides and the cake will pop out! Hope this is helpful.
 
Smaug
Smaug March 3, 2019
I usually do that too, even when the recipe doesn't call for it. Wax paper, by the way, works as well as parchment for this.
 
Kathi
Kathi March 4, 2019
They're just your average Teflon-coated pans. Maybe better quality pans would be helpful? Suggestions? I will definitely do the parchment paper next time. This might sound like a stupid question, but you do butter and flour over the parchment paper, too, or just the sides? Thanks for your help!
 
Amanda H.
Amanda H. March 4, 2019
I like aluminum pans that have a removable base (not a springform, but just a removable base), and to elaborate on the buttering and flouring, I forgot a detail. I butter the base so the parchment will stick to it, then once I add the parchment circle, I butter and flour both the parchment and the sides of the pan. Hope this helps!
 
Kathi
Kathi March 5, 2019
Thank you for your help- I've learned a lot!
 
Amanda H.
Amanda H. March 5, 2019
So glad! We're here any time.
 
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