I am making my son's birthdayday cake. It's a blues clues cake and it's my first time using a character pan
My problem is i can't get the cake to come out of the pan in one piece
I read somewhere to use poundcakes for easier release
Is this right?? I am using a devil's food cake recipe that calls for cake flour so i am thinking this might be a very light cake for such pan
Please tell me your tips on character pan

Thank you

How well did you grease the pan and then did you flour the pan after your greased it.

oh yeah of course!
I never had problem with any other round and square pan.

Ashiana

I just use spray Pam with all cake pans, including character cakes, and I've never had a problem with a cake releasing from the pan.

Do you have time to do another one or are you going to glue your cake parts together with icing?

I don't know if you got the cake out yet, if you haven't do this...
Run some VERY HOT water in your sink, just enough to dip your cake pan in. Dip it in the hot water for about a minute. Then try to turn it over. If it doesn't work then leave it in the water longer. It will work, I have had to do that lots of times. Something I learned from my Mamaw~

I just got finished w/ the wedding cake I have due tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!! It's 3:00 am!!!!!!!!!! I had several mishaps & disasters!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so tired but I know I wouldn't be able to get to sleep unless I wound down some. Drinking a cup of Chamomil tea then going to be!!!! I have another wedding cake due Sept 3... right now I feel that it might be my last for a while!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm exhausted & I'm tired of mishaps & disasters!!

Hope your cake turns out wonderful Ashiana~ I'll post my pics if you post your's

Don't know if I'm too late but...how long did you cool the cake before removing? Sometimes it helps to place it back in the oven for a few minutes and then try to remove the cake from the pan. Good luck, hope it all turns out well for you!

I am planning on making a pouncake today
My son LOVES blues clues and i really wanna make this cake for him
Hoping this one turns out good
I am gonna try your tip TC(by the way i miss your old avatar)
MrsMissey i let the cake cool for 8-10 min
Thank you guys for all your tips
I'll post my pics later if it comes out ok

Ashiana

I hope it all comes out (lol) for you!! Hmmm do I need to put my old avatar back up? A few people have been looking for me & couldn't find me because I had changed it LOL!!

Happy Baking today Ashiana!!!

Ashiana, for future character cakes...I have always had good luck with Wilton cake release.
traci

I know character cakes can be the hardest with all those edges in it, it can be hard to make sure all the grooves are filled in. I usually use cake pan release (lots of it) and then spray the pan with cooking spray.

If you use too much spray or cake release in your pan your cake will get a lot of holes in it & look like a pancake, you know how pancakes get holes in them on the bottom side. I would use one or the other.

I don't know if i wanna do a character cake again.
But then again i love challenges so ....
I crisco-ed and floured my pan and baked a pound cake
Cool it for i think 5 min ( at this point i have tried different times of cooling the cake), flipped it and TRY to take it off
All the while my dear husband is helping, he goes to the garage and brings a mallet. At this point i am so stressed i didn't care if my pan would get ruined i just wanted to make my son a blues clues b' day cake
He did it but we had to patch some places
TC I tried the hot water in the sink method and my water wasn't hot enough. THis was such a crazy experience . Why do we love baking cakes again???Oh yeah how could i forget the expression on my 3 year old face
PRICELESS .This was not my best work but man it is going to be the most memorable cake ever.My husband with the mallet and my son's face that i could make a blues clues cake for him
I am gonna try all your tips again hopefully one will work for me
My instructor told me today about the hot pan method
You put your pan in the oven take it off and pour your batter in it bake it
HAve you heard of this method?
I am gonna try it next time

Thank you all for all the tips

Ashiana

I guess I must be misinformed b/c I never take the cake out of the pan till it's totally cooled. Then tap the cake pan on all four sides till the cake "bounces" on each side (indicating to me it's not stuck) and then flip it over. I've never taken one out of the pan warm. Esp w/the devils food chocolate cakes as it seems to need to firm up as it cools (although, I'm definitely no expert). And I also only use either pam or the wilton no-stick spray release.

Well, I never remove a cake from a pan until it has cooled for 15 minutes, 20-25 for larger ones. The only time I use a shortened time is with the regular 8 or 9 inch, 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 inch deep pans and then I still cool in the pan for 10 minutes. I find this really makes a big difference. I use Crisco and flour to prepare the pan and they just never stick.
Hugs Squirrelly Cakes

Wow and my instructor said if you cool your cakes for longer the 15 min it will make it difficult to take your cake out.
I guess what works for one person might not necessarily work for another

Ashiana

Well, I don't find that to be true at all. I generally cool all character cakes for at least 10-15 minutes, anything larger than a 9 inch round for about the same time frame and the really big sheet cakes or 3 D pans or larger rounds of about 14 inches and such, 20-25 minutes. Personally I find 5 minutes in the pan cooling, not long enough and sometimes the cake will tend to stick or break coming out. Most especially with cake mixes.
Make sure you really grease you pan well than add flour. Cool on a cooling rack too.
I have heard that other instructors say this also, but I really don't find it to be true. Normally, 10 minutes is the timeframe you are told to cool cakes in the pan before removal.
Hugs Squirrelly

I work with alot of character pans here lately and I haven't had any kind of trouble that you are describing. All I do is use the Wilton Bake Easy Spray and pour in the batter and bake it. Usually I bake it at 25 degrees lower than what it tells you to. This way it is moist and doesn't brown too much on the exposed edges. I hope that you won't give up too quickly on the character pans. They do get a welcomed response from the customer. Good Luck and try the Bake Easy that Wilton makes.

Ashiana, I have heard of that method, to put your pan in the oven, warm it up then put the batter in. I've never done it though. I have done 2 character cakes. I didn't have a problem with the cakes sticking, but I've had other cakes stick. The reason I don't like character cakes is because of all the stars!! I hate doing stars! That is too much work!! I'd rather do a BCT or color flow.

I've also found that if you turn your cake over before it is cooled it will crack!! I agree Squirrellycakes!! I had a problem with 12" round strawberry cake I made. First time it fell apart... that was from not enough oil in the batter (I sent that to work w/ Hubby ). 2nd time it cracked through & through!! That time it was from turning it over before it was cool enough. Finally the 3rd time was perfect!!!! I hope I got the recipe & the cooling part right so I won't go through this again the next time I make the strawberry recipe!!

Hey Turtlelady, the third time is a charm, haha!
I also find that brand new never used pans almost need seasoning, sometimes they take two or three tries before they come out right. With round or square or any other cake pan other than the indented type like the character pans, you can always grease and flour or prepare pans and then line them with waxed paper or parchment and this solves the sticking issues. However the character pans cannot be lined.
I have a bit of a superstition thing going when I remove a cake from the pan, that works well. Hhmn, I always say, "Please God" as I flip out the cake. Haha, now I can almost bet that is one trick no Wilton instructor will ever tell you!
Regarding putting the greased and floured cake pan in the oven for a bit first, well heating it may just cause the heated grease form to incorporate itself into the cake batter and really cause the cake to stick. It might drip down from the cake pan sides causing them not to be protected and therefore possibly causing cakes to stick on the sides. Now it might work out with some, but I think that is one method I would steer clear of just in case. Just my opinion! But one of the reasons that margarine and butter are not the best things to grease your cake pans for (for regular cakes) is that they have different melting temperatures and have a tendency to melt and incorporate in the cake batter causing sticking.
Sometimes cakes stick because they were not greased enough. Or they have too much liquid and are not cooked enough, or they have the right amounts of everything and were not cooked enough.
Hugs Squirrelly Cakes