Lynette from Ohio

January 22, 2017 at 9:56am

Thanks, PJ, for an encouraging post! I do have a few observations: 1. On #3, Grease the pan thoroughly, I question using nonstick vegetable oil spray, even KAF's Everbake Spray. I agree that it is the best on the market, and I've used it for eight or nine years. But I noticed that my pans were collecting a fine layer of gunk, even after washing thoroughly with hot, soapy water after removing my cakes. And then I noticed that the gunk seemed to stick to my baked product, causing them to stick which was the exact opposite effect I wanted! So I started painting my pans with "pan grease", a mixture of equal amounts by volume of shortening, all-purpose flour, and vegetable oil. I mix 1/3 cup of these three ingredients together in my stand mixer and store them in a half-pint jar on my pantry shelf. And I definitely use a silicone brush to apply this stuff, regardless of how "intricate" the pan is. By definition, if it's a Bundt, it's intricate in my book! The mixture works like a charm. I don't coat the pan with anything else (nut flour, granulated sugar), although I do think those give a delightful crumb to the cake. Once the pan is coated, I put it in the REFRIGERATOR while I mix my cake batter. I don't know why a cold pan hitting a hot oven works, but it does! 2. On #6, Loosen the edges of the cake when you remove it from the oven, I have the original Teflon-coated Bundt pan I received as a wedding gift in 1970. I don't bake in it any more, because I always "loosened the edges of the cake when I removed it from the oven", and now it has scratches down the sides of the pan where my gentle poking with a table knife ruined my pan! And those places now stick! However, loosening the edges certainly helps with removing the cake from the pan. My method now is to let the cake rest for 5 minutes after removing it from the oven, and then to gently pull the cake back from the edges, both on the outside edge of the pan AND the inside edge along the tube section, with my fingers. You will be able to see a half-inch or so of the cake pull away from the pan. This seems to make a huge difference in the cake coming out whole! And by avoiding using anything on the surface of my pan, I never scratch it inadvertently. I'm definitely going to try your cooling method of five minutes right side up and five minutes upside down on the cooling rack, rather than the ten minutes right side up I've always done, just because that sounds fascinating to me. And I have had cakes that wouldn't budge without those few extra minutes in the warm oven for a second try at removing them from the pan! Works like a charm. The only other observation I have is that in the pictures, it appears that the baked cake is being turned onto the cooling rack without placing the cooling rack face down on the pan and then turning both cake and rack together until they are right side up. I have always done the rack-on-top-of-the-cake-pan and flipping both together, regardless of the type of cake pan I'm using, just because it seems safer. So those are my experiences and observations, and as you say, "See #1 above!"
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