Cake Goop – Homemade Cake Release without shortening

I started this blog a long time back as a passion project with the aim of sharing recipes to promote home-baked goodies over commercially available stuff in the market. Along with sharing recipes, I also ensure to share baking fundamentals to help beginners, who may be intimidated by baking. As part of this series, today I am sharing a very simple cake release recipe. This will help you remove your cake from pans easily- every single time, without any sticking.

You can use commercially available spray but this method is so simple and best of all it is homemade without any shortening – just three ingredients, flour, oil and butter.

You can find more tutorials related to baking on my YouTube channel here.

How do I prepare pans for baking?

There is so much confusion about what to use when preparing pans for baking- butter & flour, oil & flour, parchment or baking paper, or baking spray. In this post, I will share three methods of preparing pans for baking.

Butter/ Oil & Flour Method

This is one of the most common methods used for preparing pans for baking and uses 2 ingredients: butter/ oil & flour. This method has the following steps:

• In a clean, dry baking pan, spread (softened) butter or oil with a brush, evenly on all sides of the pan.
• Make sure that no surface area remains uncovered.
• Sprinkle some flour and spread is evenly on the base by rotating the pan. Dust off the access.
• You can now use your pan for baking.

This is a simple method but the only con is that the flour clumps up with the fat while baking and is visible on the cake. Also it is a 2- step method.

Butter & Parchment/ Baking Paper Method

This method also uses two items: butter & parchment/ baking paper and has the following steps:

• Cut a parchment paper according to the shape and size of the pan.
• Spread room temperature butter with a brush, evenly on all sides of the pan. Place the parchment paper on top and press with fingers.
• Apply some more butter on top of the paper.
• You can now use your pan for baking.

This method works well with round, square or rectangle shapes pans. However, for any irregular shaped pans such as a Bundt pan or a custom-designed pan, it will not be possible to fit the parchment paper accurately.

Cake Release Method

This is my most preferred method of preparing pans and uses a homemade cake release. Its quick to make and once prepared, you can store it in refrigerator for 1-2 months and use whenever needed. You can find the recipe at the bottom of the post.

This method has the following steps:

• Spread the prepared cake release with a brush, evenly on all sides of the pan.
• Make sure that no surface area remains uncovered.
• You can now use your pan for baking.

The best part about using this cake release is that it overcomes the cons of the other two methods mentioned above- no clumping of flour and this can be used in every kind of pan.

Some Important Tips

• Instead of using only oil/ butter, always add flour as well for better results.
• Avoid using wax paper for lining pans as wax paper has a thin layer of wax on it, which melts during baking and can spoil your cake. A word of caution, do not use wax paper which has a thin layer of wax and most of them are not recommended for baking at high temperatures.
• For dark-colored pans, make sure to cover the pan surface extra carefully. Dark-colored pans absorb more heat and if the pan is not greased well, there is a chance of your cake sticking in some places.
• Avoid using commercially available non-stick baking sprays. Although these are convenient; however, they come with an additional cost. Also, these sprays contain preservatives, which are easily avoidable by using other methods explained above.
• You can make the cake release, store it in refrigerator for up to 1-2 months and use whenever required.