You probably saw the flour, sugar, and eggs in the pantry and thought, “Hey, I have all the ingredients to make angel food cake.” But, what you did not see was one sticky problem on your horizon. You can easily make and bake the cake, but you will likely break a sweat trying to get it out in one piece. In this article, we will teach you how to remove an angel food cake from a cake pan without damaging it.
Follow these 9 steps on how to remove angel food cake from a pan:
Want to know how to solve this problem with other cakes too?
We created a detailed guide for this.
1. Strictly Follow The Angel Food Cake Recipe
If made incorrectly, angel food cakes tend to cling to the cake pan more easily. Therefore, it is key to closely follow the recipe you’ve chosen.
The cake’s angel-like texture depends on how you manipulate the egg whites and mix them with the rest of the ingredients. Mix it wrong, and the next thing you know, your angel cake will collapse straight into the inferno.
The main attention points:
- Do not overbeat the eggs. You should beat them until they form soft peaks.
- Do not grease the pan. Avoid using fats with angel food cake at all costs.
- Cook until the top gets golden brown. Set the temperature and timer as stated in the recipe.
- Do not mix the ingredients aggressively. Instead, fold the eggs gently on top of the flour and sugar.
2. Use Parchment Paper
As mentioned before, you should never grease the pan while baking angel food cake. You should not even sprinkle the pan with flour. You may think this would make it stick to the pan less. Yet, with these types of cakes it will only make your problems worse .
If your pan doesn’t have a non-stick coating, parchment paper is your friend.
Follow these seven steps to get a clear-cut parchment circle for your pan:
- Fold a square shape from the parchment paper.
- Diagonally fold a triangle from the square.
- Fold the triangles into halves until the final triangle is about 1 inch (2.5 cm) wide.
- Flip the pan upside down and place the triangle on top of it.
- Measure the length, by placing the tip of the triangle at the center of the pan.
- Cut the paper sticking out following the curve of the pan.
- Unfold and place it in the pan.
3. Create a Hollow Center in The Angel Food Cake
The hole at the center of an angel food cake isn’t just a design feature. In fact, it is essential to the heat distribution of the cake. Without it, the cake won’t cook evenly. As a result, the cake sticks to the pan.
If you do not have a tube or bundt pan, you may create the middle hole using a can lined with parchment paper.
How to create a hole in angel food cake:
- Take any tin can and line it with parchment paper.
- Stick the sides of the paper together so it doesn’t fall out.
- Fill the can with beans or rice to help it remain heavy and in place.
- Place the lined can in the middle of the cake.
- Poor the batter in the pan.
4. Place Angel Food Cake Upside-Down
Once the cake is out of the oven and starts to cool it will start to sink in. Therefore, it is best to let the angel food cake cool upside down. So flip the cake pan and let it sit. Now gravity is on our team again.
Move on to the next step once the cake reaches room temperature.
5. Run a Knife Around the Edges
If your pan has removable edges, this step is going to be even easier. If not, you can still follow these steps to remove the cake successfully:
- Take a knife with a serrated blade. If you use a straight blade, you will compress the cake. A bread knife will not destroy gentle textures, including soft cakes and bread.
- Dip the knife in hot water. This helps the knife slide more easily through the cake.
- Repeat the dipping each time you run the knife around the edges.
6. Tap The Bottom and The Sides of The Pan
It this point your cake may already come loose. If not, then proceed by tapping the bottom and sides of the cake pan.
Your cake should remain upside down, with cut-out edges. Use your hand to tap the pan gently and encourage the cake to release from the pan.
7. Reheat The Cake
Sometimes the cake’s temperature will get too low if you let it cool for too long. In this case, you should use a damp kitchen towel to warm up the bottom. The cake will loosen up, and you should be able to remove it.
Another option is to place the cake in the oven for a few minutes. The cooling and heating will make the cake expand and shrink. It should be easier to remove it once it changes its volume.
8. Freeze The Cake
If warming up didn’t work, there is still the option of freezing. Surprisingly, cakes handle freezing really well. It negatively influences neither flavor nor structure.
Place the cake in a freezer and leave it there for 1-2 hours. Take it out once it is frozen and run a knife along the edges to remove it from the cake pan.
9. Remove The Bottom With a Spatula
This final step won’t work well on a springform pan. In this case, use a spatula to remove the cake from the bottom of the pan.
For regular cake pans it’s best too stick the spatula under the cake. Scrape a little bit and flip it upside down. Scraping should make it come out quickly.
Parts of the cake may look unpresentable, but these rougher surfaces are better suited to support whipped cream and decorations.
Conclusion
Making angel food cake can be a frustrating process, and removing the final product from the pan can be even more so. Luckily, there are a few tricks on how to remove angel food cake from pan without removable bottom you can try to free your dessert, so you can have your cake and eat it too.
Once your cake lands on your plate in perfect shape, feel free to demolish it. After all this hassle, you deserve not one but two slices of angel food cake.
