FOOD NEWS
How To Pull Out A Stubbornly Stuck Cake From Its Pan
By Alli Neal
It's heartbreaking when your perfect cake sticks to the pan, creating a crumbly mess. If this happens to you, try these tips to remove your cake safely.
Insert a tester into the middle of the cake — if it comes out clean, you can flip it, but if it's gooey, the cake needs more time. A fully baked cake will pull away from the tin.
Ensure the cake is adequately cooled for 20 to 30 minutes before turning it out. Put the cake in the fridge, or invert the pan and put a plate piled with ice cubes on top.
If cooling your cake doesn't work, heat it in the oven for a few minutes — not long enough to overbake it, but enough to create a temperature shift.
If the pan was greased or the cake was made with butter, heating it in the oven again could loosen it enough to release the cake.
You can also lightly steam it. Put a rolled kitchen towel in the sink to create a nest, pour boiling water into the sink, and nestle the cake pan into the towel.
Cover the cake with foil to trap steam and avoid a damp cake. Lay another towel over the top of the sink to trap the steam, and after about 15 minutes, try to turn it out again.
Using utensils to pry the cake out can make matters worse, as scratching the surface of a nonstick cake pan will create even more sticking in the future.
If you're going to try to pry, use a thin, flexible, silicone or rubber spatula and very carefully apply leverage around the cake.