Caking: Pans & Prep

If you have ever been in a cake decorating aisle in a craft store, you know that many different kinds of cake pans are available. Some pans are better than others, but it all comes down to personal preference. Wilton is a well known brand which has standard pans as well as character pans. My favorite cake pans right now are from the line produced by The Food Network. My collection of cake pans is made up of a mixture of Wilton pans, Food Network pans, and random pans people gave me. I have over 25 pans in my ever growing collection.

The reason that I prefer the Food Network pans over the Wilton pans is that the Food Network pans are strong, non-stick, and have a lifetime warranty. The Wilton pans are mostly made from aluminum and require more prep work before a cake is baked. The prep work allows the cake to easily release from the cake pan without breaking or crumbling.

There are two main techniques for prepping a cake pan for baking. One method involves using shortening and flour while the other method involves using cooking spray and paper. Both methods have their benefits. The shortening and flour method can be used on any shape pan, while the cooking spray and paper method can only be used on flat bottomed pans. The cooking spray and paper method is very easy and almost always allows the cake to come out of the pan perfectly.

The Cooking Spray and Paper method:

For this method you will need: a cake pan, cooking spray, wax paper or parchment paper, scissors, pencil

Tear a sheet of paper off the roll that is large enough to cover the bottom of the pan. Place the pan on top of the paper, bottom down, and trace around the bottom of the pan with a pencil. Cut out the shape that you traced, just inside the pencil line. Spray the entire inside of the pan with cooking spray. Place the paper cutout at the bottom of the pan and spray the top of the cutout with cooking spray. You are now ready to bake a cake!

The Shortening and Flour method:

For this method you will need: a cake pan, shortening, flour, sandwich bag, spoon

Place the sandwich bag on your hand. Scoop a small amount of shortening up your bagged hand. Smear the shortening all over the inside of the cake pan, being sure not to miss any spots or else the cake might stick to the pan. Place a spoonful of flour in the pan. Shake the flour around to cover the entire inside of the pan. Tap out extra flour in the sink You are now ready to bake a cake!

There is one more optional step involved when prepping a cake pan. When baking cakes the sides of the pan heat up quickly and bake the outer edges of the cake faster than the inside of the cake bakes. This causes the top of the cake to dome and the sides to harden. A way to combat this is with the Wilton Even Bake strips. These are amazing and work great on anything you bake in a cake pan! I've had a set of bake even strips for 3 years now and they are still in great condition.

For this you will need: bake even strips, cake pan, water

Soak the bake even strips in water until entirely soaked. Lift up one end of the strip and slide the strip between two fingers to get rid of excess water. Pull the strip taut around the cake pan and pin the strip together.

Unfortunately, I can't seem to find the Food Network line of bakeware anymore. They used to be sold at Kohls, some stores may still have the bakeware (it is not online). Other pans in the Food Network family of bakeware may have the same amazing quality, but I'm not sure.

If you are interested in the Wilton Even Bake strips, you can find them here Wilton Small Bake Even Cake Strips

To view the wide variety of Wilton cake pans, click here Wilton Cake pans

The Food Network brand cake pans can be found here, but I can't honestly recommend any of them: Food Network bakeware