Cake - What am I doing wrong?

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The pan I used has a non-stick finish. Well, it's *supposed* to be non-stick. I'd be hesitant to grease/flour for a chocolate cake, being as the white residue might spoil the appearance ... except if it's finished by sprinkling with powdered sugar that wouldn't matter. I'm thinking it may be too much cooling causing the trouble.

Anyway, I didn't make a 3rd attempt, not yet anyway. I sliced the cake and arranged the pieces on a plate. Not particularly impressive, but it'll do.

I don't have an angel/tube pan, but I suppose I can get one. I have another bundt-type pan that is a bit smaller, isn't fluted as deeply. Also non-stick, I used it for the aforementioned Gingerbread Cake (sprayed with butter Crisco spray), cooled 20 mins and it dropped right out.
 
Leslie....I posted a shortbread recipe here

some time ago...I thought you saved it.

KitchenAid Shortbread
250F
10x15

2 cups- 4 sticks-1 pound butter (unsalted for preference, salted works anyway)

2 cups sugar..white or light brown. If light brown, firmly packed.

5 cups unsifted all purpose flour (I like King Arthur all purpose, but Gold Medal and Pillsbury work, too)

___________-

In mixer, with flat beater, cream the butter and sugar. Really wail on it...about 5 minutes or so. (Yes. But not above "medium," or about 4 on an 10 speed).

Stop and scrape.

Add the flour, a cup at a time, stopping and scraping twice.

Dump onto clean but ungreased 10x15 pan. With floured fingers, press into the pan evenly. I like to put some dough in each corner and press it out into the centre.

Dock well. That is, prick the surface nicely with a fork.

Place in preheated 250F oven, and bake for about 45 minutes. Should be "squdgy-firm" when poked. Will solidify while cooling.

Remove from oven, cool on rack. At about 10 minutes out, score deeply with a small sharp knife.

Score again when fully cool.

Yield: to the temptation.

Makes: a lot.

Variations--------

Cocoa shortbread. White sugar, 1/2 cup cocoa instead of 1/2 cup of the flour. Add a dash of almond extract...up to a teaspoon. Add a dash of coconut extract...

Spiced shorthread. brown sugar, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, more than a few raspings of nutmeg.

Enjoy!

I like the Pam for Baking. No current experience with the other brands.

Lawrence/Maytagbear
 
Thanks Lawrence

I wondered if you would chime in. The shortbread is so easy and good. Thanks for re-posting the recipe.
 
Glenn, I recognize your Bundt pan. It's a Wilton non-stick. When you try the cake again........thoroughly spray that pan with a baking spray. You'll find it will fall right out.

I hate it when recipes get screwed up because of some nuisance thing. Especially when you are 95% done and no easy way to rescue your creation. Don't despair!

I just finished making Emerils Food Network Christmas triple Chocolate bark. Emeril had it made in no time on TV. I have really cussed up a storm. The kitchen is a mess & I'm miserable. I need a Xanax! The recipe ingredients and the end result were are fine. However, the instructions were written by a "masochist"!!!
 
The baking spray rocks. I have the Pam here and it's just great. I had another Bundt cake recipe a while ago that said only to grease the pan, and I followed the recipe since it was the first time. Had the same problem Glenn did, and I will never do that again. Anything that comes out of the pan gets sprayed or greased and floured. I used to make Bundt cakes in the 70s when they were all the rage, and I'd grease and flour, never once had an issue.

For those that bake layer cakes, parchment is truly a wonderful thing too. I buy it in precut rounds for the pans.

Here's another tip I learned from Betty: for chocolate cakes, if you don't want flour to whiten or discolor your cake, use cocoa instead of flour in the pan.
 
I even emailed Jeff and asked him if I could bake the cake in a bundt pan. He hadn't had any experience using this recipe in a bundt pan and what experience he had had with those types of pans, wasn't impressive. So I followed his recipe to the letter and drug out my old angle food cake pan. Sprayed it very well with spray. Let it cool completely like state4d. The "tuve" part came out easilyu. and sliding a knife under it and around, cake came right out.
 
I recall reading that about using cocoa as pan flouring for chocolate cakes. I've always thought of pound cakes in loaf-form so perhaps will try that next time. But I think Leslie's Chocolate Applesauce Cake is next on-tap!
 
Douche it

We have one of those "CASTLE" cake pans that is sold at Williams-Sonoma.
The cake pan is very detailed and you would never think that the cake would ever come out. And the first time we tried it... it didn't.
However, if you douche the pan with Baker's Joy or equivalent product, the cake pops right out. And I do mean DOUCHE IT.
And thank you to the helpful person at Williams-Sonoma for the tip. We love the cake pan and the cakes literally eject themselves. Ok... I'm exaggerating a bit.
 
In my experience, the spray oil/flour products usually work very well---although I have also not been happy with the sputtering, uneven spray of the Bakers Joy---so will try the Crisco product.
I think these products also contain (the dreaded) silicon dioxide, and that help things "out" so to speak.

I have noticied the "silicon free" sprays at the "Wholefoods" market but am not yet prepared to pay the outrageous price for it. Hopefully, if I am to die from silicon dioxide exposure, it will keep the casket lining from sticking to my skin and pulling.I always hated that.
 
Couple of observations:

1. Getting something out of the Bundt/high relief type pan is contingent on temperature...you want the cake cool enough to have some structural integrity, but not so cool as to solidify the butter/shortening pan release agent. Another way to try it if you're having problems is to warm up the pan over a burner for a few moments to perhaps loosen the stuck area.

2. Also make sure that the pan is clean, clean, clean. I'd advocate taking a soft brush to the crevices to make sure all the age-old schmutz is gone (nothing stiff or abrasive...you don't want to mess up the Teflon/SilverStone). TurboZone in your dishwasher might be your friend, in this case >)
 
I have found I have less trouble with sticking if I do not wash these Bundt pans in the dishwasher whether they are plain cast aluminum or non stick. The dishwasher detergent removes too much of the seasoning in the pores of the aluminum or Teflon. If you fill the pans with water right after turning out the cake, they are easy to wash. I melt 2 T of margarine and whisk in 1 T of flour (or cocoa) then use a pastry brush to paint the insides of a Bundt pan. Another dramatic effect is to grease the pan then sprinkle granulated sugar on all of the inner surfaces. The cake will have a surface that glistens.

Are these new oil & flour products better than the original Baker's Joy in the late 70s where the extreme oiliness of the spray would cause the top edge of the cake that was trying to rise on the sides of the pan to sort of curl over and look fried, or were none of you old enough to be baking back then?

Glenn, what type of non-stick surface does your Bundt pan have? It looks like the plain ones inside. Is it some sort of silicone?

Has anyone tried baking a Bundt cake in one of the floppy silicone "rubber-like" pans? I'll bet that silicone would make a great tub for the Bendix Economat.
 
Glenn....

I don't care what anyone thinks. If I could have a cake come out as well as yours did, I'd be very happy! Well done!! =)
 
I'm going to bake one tomorrow...

Inbetween working, going to the gym, and getting ready for an evening downtown with friends...
if not then Sunday, inbetween church services!
Man will I be glad when all this holiday BS is over and done with!
 
Retro, No, I don't think it does, but generally what you turn out of a skillet is not an item like a cake. You can add some oil to the skillet for frying and the flat surface of the skillet is not like the intricate pattern at the base of the Bundt pan. I have seen instructions with Teflon cookware that it is OK to wash it in the dishwasher, but before the next use it should be wiped with a small amount of oil on a paper towel. I have not bothered to do that with some T-Fal skillets that I have had for more than 20 years and always wash in the smasher and they still have all of their coating. But you know bakeware; generally what goes into it takes some effort, good ingredients, and is often meant to be shared or given away so you want it to look perfect, therefore anything that can be done to make what you bake turn out without looking like it has the heartbreak of culinary psoriasis, impetigo, dermatitis or a peeling sunburn, you do and you stick (you should pardon the expression) with it.

Glenn, if (heaven forbid) that ever happens again, make a nice, thick, opaque powder sugar glaze with an interesting flavor and apply as many coats as necessary to pave over the disaster, allowing each coat to dry before applying the next.
 
Cranky Pan

Seasoning a heavy piece of bakeware, regardless of it's coating is still an important step. I never wash my Bundt pans. I rub them clean with a paper towel and if there is residue I use salt and a dry cloth to clean it. I wipe it with Crisco before I put it away. If the cake has cooled completely, I place the cake over low heat on the burner and when the side of the pan begin to feel warm, I remove the cake. The heat softens the grease and the fact that the cake is cooled and dense gives me one more leg up on a successful removal.
Tom is spot on when he suggests using cocoa to dust a chocolate cake pan. Suguring the pan gives the cake a beautiful shiny texture. Know that sugar enhances browning so if you have a dark pan that browns more the cake might be darker than you like.
Kelly
 
When using a Bundt pan for a cake, it is pretty difficult to get all of the nooks and crannies completely buttered and dusted with flower. You would have better luck with an angel food cake pan that comes apart, and is concave, without grooves. However, when in trouble like this, my mother used to fill a bigger pan of hot water up to to almost the level of the fancy cake pan, put the troublesome one inside and let it sit for five minutes,and the damn thing would come out, no matter what! Heat and moisture. Ovens dry things,and little fancy grooves overcook the edges unevenly, like a radiator works in reverse.
 

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