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| How to Grease a Cake Pan |
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| There's nothing more frustrating than trying to remove a baked cake that's stuck in its pan. It's more likely that the wrong greasing technique was used, rather than the wrong pan size or type. There are a few techniques to prepare pans to prevent this from happening. Preparation Techniques: |
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| Non-Stick Sprays: Non-stick sprays are great for pans that have many crevices, bumps and valleys, such as a flan pan or Madeleine (sea shells), which are made of thin, shiny tin. This type of material reflects heat, rather than absorbing it. The typical greasing and/or flour technique may produce a gummy layer; the grease and flour doesn't cook well and the batter may stick to the pan. Non-stick sprays are more ideal for these pans, since they coat these types of pans evenly with lecithin and allow for easy removal without sticking. It's very difficult to cut wax or parchment paper and to then press them into the crevices, so a spray comes in handy. When using shiny pans such as these, it's best to allow the baked cake to rest in its pan for about 3 - 7 minutes to retain its shape, before inverting the pan to release the cake. If the cake is left longer than that time, condensation will develop between the bottom crust of the cake and the interior bottom of the hot pan, which will moisten the crust of the cake and will cause the cake to stick to the pan, defeating the purpose of using a non-stick spray. Another thing to consider when using a non-stick spray is that during baking, the edge of the side of the cake will become a little deformed: lopsided. The baked cake will look as if someone had "cookie cut" the cake out of a larger piece of cake with the some of the edges raised, which to me isn't appealing. I do use non-stick sprays for certain pans, but not for all. Greased Only vs. Greased with Shortening and then Dusted with All-Purpose Flour Shortening alone can be used in a pan with a non-stick coating. I, however, also dust the greased pan with all-purpose flour, just to play it safe. Greased with Shortening and Fit with Wax Paper or Parchment Paper Cut to Fit Regular aluminum pans, without a non-stick coating, require more than just greasing and/or dusting with flour. They need to be greased and then lined with wax paper and then greased again, or just greased and then lined with parchment paper, no need to re-grease. I used to use wax paper, in the past, for preparing my cake pans, because parchment paper wasn't available. The problem with using wax paper was that parts of the bottom crust of the cake would stick onto the wax paper and would tear the cake when removing the paper. There's regular wax paper and then there's GOOD wax paper. GOOD wax paper is slightly more expensive than your typical wax paper, because both sides of the paper are coated with wax, not just one side as with regular wax paper. Parchment paper, on the other hand, is much more reliable than wax paper, because it has a thin coating of silicon on both sides that prevents foods from sticking. Another plus to this paper is that you don't need to grease it; it works great all on its own. Now that parchment paper is more commonly available and works so much better, I would never go back to wax paper again. I do, however, still use wax paper for other jobs, but not for cakes. I grease most cake pans (with or without a non-stick coating) and then line them with parchment paper, provided that the shape of the pan is easy to line with paper. How to Cut and Fit a Cake Pan Cut with Wax or Parchment Paper To cut out a circle of paper, turn the pan upside down and measure out of sheet of paper that will cover the entire pan. Fold the paper in half, and then in half again and then fold once more, forming a triangle; repeat until you end up with a narrow triangle; slightly press paper flat. Place the tip of the triangle in the centre of the pan, holding down the triangle onto the bottom of the pan and then cut off the large end of the triangle, going along the pan and using it as a guide. Unfold the paper and check to see how it fits into the pan; if it's a little larger and goes up the side of the pan by 1/2 an inch or more, simply refold the paper and trim where necessary. The paper can go up the pan by a little less than 1/4 of an inch (but no more than that), which can be pressed into the corner and up the side of the pan. It's wiser to cut out a large circle and trim off where necessary (even if it takes a few tries) than to cut one that is smaller; otherwise, the paper won't cover the entire bottom of the pan and may cause sticking. Grease the interior of the pan, bottom and side, with shortening. Drop in the circle of paper and press flat to cover the bottom of the pan; avoid bubbles between the paper and the pan. If bubbles do occur, then press the paper, going from the centre of the pan to the side, pushing the bubbles out. If bubbles still exist, simply lift off the paper and redo it; it's not the end of the world. Press the edge of the circle, the 1/4 of an inch or less excess, into the corner of the pan with your fingernail and then grease the creased areas of the paper to flatten out the creases. Cut 2 - 3 strips of paper, about 1 - 1 1/2 inches wide by length of paper roll used and press onto the side of the pan; grease 1 - 2 inches of the ends. Overlap strips by 1 - 2 inches to allow strips to adhere onto each other. Finally, re-grease the creased corner of the pan. |
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| Place large sheet of paper over pan and then fold paper in half. |
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| Fold paper over again. |
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| Snip off the large end of the triangle, using pan as a guide. |
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| Press paper firmly into place to remove air bubbles. |
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| Creating a collar with a strips of paper double height of pan. | |||||||||||||||
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| Brush corner where side and bottom meet. |
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| Collar is double the height of the pan. |
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