Thula's Cake Lab

Cake Pan Preparation

1. TRADITIONAL GREASE-FLOUR & PARCHMENT CIRCLE TECHNIQUE

 

pan prep dpYou will need….

  1. Clean and dry cake pans
  2. Butter/shortening
  3. Flour
  4. Parchment paper
  5. Scissors
  6. Pencil

Method

  1. Apply a thin even coat of butter or shortening on the bottom and sides of the cake pan. Why a thin coat? A thicker coat will lead to binding more flour forming a thicker crust which can give an unpleasantly dry taste to the cake.IMG_1978
  2. Put a scoop of flour on the bottom of the pan (use the same flour that your recipe uses).IMG_1980
  3. Tap the pan so the flour spreads around. Flour that comes in contact with the shortening sticks to it giving it a flour coat.IMG_1982
  4. Once the bottom is coated tilt and tap the pan so that the sides get evenly coated too.IMG_1984
  5. Tap out excess flour into a separate container (you can reuse it for your next pan).IMG_1988

When baking chocolate cakes I use cocoa powder to coat the greased cake pan- this forms a nice brown crust on the cake. 

The traditional method involves an additional parchment circle step.

How does parchment paper serve? extra insurance !….an extra protected layer that ensures that the cake does not stick to the pan.

  1. Use the cake pan as size guide and outline with a lead-free pencil.IMG_1992
  2. Cut it out the parchment circle.IMG_1994
  3. Apply a thin coat of shortening and insert the greased circle into the pan.IMG_2007
  4. Sprinkle flour, tap sides to coat the parchment circle and tap out excess. IMG_2057

Pour in batter and bake at the suggested time and temperature. Once baked this barrier forms as a thin layered crust which does not significantly affect the taste or texture of the cake. 

 

Can I omit “greasing and flouring” and directly use the parchment circles instead?

While I strongly recommend the traditional method of pan preparation, you can directly use parchment circles (follow steps 7-10). In this case, once the cake is baked and cooled use a blunt knife to detach the cake from the pan sides and invert it onto a cooling grid.

Next: COMMERCIAL CAKE PAN NON-STICK SPRAY

Comments

  1. Leave a Reply

    Bawi
    July 19, 2016

    Very interesting and good info. Keep up Thula!

    • Leave a Reply

      Thulashitha RD
      July 19, 2016

      Thank you for the feedback!

  2. Leave a Reply

    Arunodhaya
    July 19, 2016

    This is a cool alternative for a lazy person like me. Can’t wait to try it out ?

    • Leave a Reply

      Thulashitha RD
      July 19, 2016

      Great, I am glad you found it informative 🙂

  3. Leave a Reply

    Shridevi Pramod
    August 15, 2016

    Thula,,,,Reading your articles I can only imagine how much of experiments you have done in baking…Cant wait to try them soon…Waiting to learn more n more from you 🙂

  4. Leave a Reply

    reshma
    September 18, 2016

    thula how long can this be stored

    • Leave a Reply

      Thulashitha RD
      September 19, 2016

      Hello Reshma! It stays for weeks in the fridge. I go through it pretty fast, so lets say 2 months and it’s still good 🙂

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