hi there,

I am doing something rong as i cant get my cakes out of the pan! I have got a christmas tree shaped pan and the dancing daisy and on the instructions it says i can use a vegtable oil spray and then to flour it, how ever my cakes are getting stuck! today i have made two and both have stuck to the bottom!

i am using a canola oil spray? is that rong? im sure im not putting to little on so i just cant work out what im doing rong..

the instructions also say that u can use a solid vegtable shortning applied with a pastry brush.. would this be like kremelta? and do you melt it and then put it on with a brush? im oh so confused. pleaseee help! thanks!

for my cakes i use solid shortening applied with fingertips or a napkin and then i flour generously. the only time i have had problems getting the cake out was when i let it cool down too much. make sure to let it cool a little 10-15 mins. but let it sit for too long and it'll get stuck. once i put the pan with a stuck cake in it back in a warm oven for a minute to "remelt" the shorteing lining the pan and it came out quite easily. i might've just been lucky that time.

good luck with your cakes!

I use the Wilton bake easy spray. You don't need to flour the pan. I have used it on the character pans I have done and they didn't stick. There is also a baking spray in the baking isle. I think the brand is Pam. I hope this helps.

I would suggest you get or make some cake release, which is a mixture of oil (not shortening) and flour. I don't know HOW you'd spread shortening with a pastry brush. Personally I don't have time/patience for that! Geesh... There's a recipe for cake release on this site. I used to use the Wilton version but then tried the recipe on cc and won't go back. I don't do the character pans so I can't swear this is the solution to your dilema, but I line ALL my cake pans with parchment paper and coat the sides and bottom edge with the release and the come out beautifully. Just let the cake cool enough that it won't tear when you loosen with a spatula prior to turning out of pan. Hope this helps some/someone.

I use a 50/50 mixture of shortening and flour and I spread it with a brush. If can put in in the microwave for a few seconds to soften it up. I never line my pans unless they need to cook for a long time. That's the one thing I have no patience for. And the trick of putting it back in the oven to warm up works great for me. I've had to do it a couple of times. When you flip it and it doesn't want to come out just put it back in again. The bigger the cake the longer it takes to warm up to release. Once I actually turned the cake upside down on the rack and then put it in the oven, then all I had to do was lift the pan to see if it was released. (I think that was the sheet cake that got stuck.)

I use parchment paper too. No problems since then. I also learned this trick from my grandmother. When cake is somewhat hot, if you put a cold rag on the bottom of the pan, it drops it. It worked in the past too.

As for character pans, I would use the parchment. Somehow all those nooks and crannies hold on to the cake too much.
Good luck.

I just recently discovered parchment paper & wish i had so decades ago!!! It makes it so easy to remove from the pan -even the big sheet cake. It keeps the big cakes from cracking too, as they are flipped. The surface is nice & firm.
The cold rag idea is a good one!
I wouldn't have thought you could use the parchment onthe character cakes but heck now that you say it-why not!

I use generous amounts of vegetable shortening and flour. It depends on the pan. I have a couple of pans that are "non-stick" yet they stick more than the non-stick, even WITH the shortening and flour. I like that wet rag idea!