Why does my cake get a crust on the top sides when I use the Bakers Joy spray? It's like the sides bake all the way up then instead of rounding off they get straight and hard. I am attaching a cake that I am baking right now. Has this happened to anyone else. What do I do to stop this from happening?

I was never really happy with using the pan release spray so I always use homemade release! It works every time and saves money as well! I keep it on my counter with a pastry brush in it.
Linda B.

Mine does the same thing. I never even thought it might be the spray but that's what I use so it probably is. I guess I don't use it the next time and see how it turns out.

Sorry I can't help you but you sure helped me.

Linda- Is your homemade recipe equal amounts of flour, crisco, and veg oil?

I've never thought about it but I guess bakers joy isnt really a joy after all. I have been using the flour pam and I think it work pretty good. I just bought bakers joy and did a cake yesturday. The side were more crumbily then when I used pam. I guess when I am done with this I will go back to pam or just use crisco and flour. Thanks for opening my eyes on bakers joy. I thought it was just me.

When I took the Wilton Course I, the instructor taught us to cut paper towels to the shape of the bottom of the pan, and put them flat in the bottom. When the cake cools for a few minutes in the pan, the sides pull away from the edge of the pan. Sometimes, I have to run a knife around the edge, but usually, the cake just drops out!

The only problem is that if you have a crumbly cake, sometimes the paper towel pulls a little chunk off when you remove it, but not usually. This is all I ever do.

millermom, No spray? Is the paper towel wet or dry? Any perticular kind?

I used the Crisco spray and each time my cake would pull away from the pan. I would get a darker brown , hard, chewy crust sort of like a chewy cookie.

I am with Linda , I started using the cake release recipe I found on CC and no problems since.

I never spray the sides either. I do spray the bottom or I use parchment paper.

Yes it is equal oil, shortening and flour. I usually do 2 cups of each and and keep it in a plastic shortening can, I cut a slot in the center of the lid big enough for my brush to fit in and when I empty it out I just throw the whole thing out and start a new can.
Linda B

My first choice is CK Brand Pan Grease. If I'm out of that I use Wilton Cake Release. If I'm out of that, I use plain Crisco. I stopped using Pam spray because the sides of my cakes came out with BIG air holes and were hard and crunchy.

I grease-only-no-flour the bottoms and sides.

I also love the CK brand Pan Grease! I bought it on a whim from shop bakers nook .com (can't type the whole address or it's blocked), and it seems to work really well. I haven't had any sticking or anything since I've used it.

The paper towel is dry, and I do not use a particular brand. I usually buy Brawny, but I have used others. The embossed pattern paper towels leave the pattern on the cake, so if this bothers you, you might want to try Viva or something without a pattern; however the pattern has never caused a problem for me. Crumb coating fills it in.

julzs71, I have also heard of using parchment paper, and heard that it works in the place of paper towels just as well.

Cool paper towel tip!

I use homemade pan grease (I used to use Pam and got crunchy edges, too). Mix equal parts veggie oil, shortening and flour. It works well! I keep a big tub full of it on hand.

can someone post a link to the recipe for the homemade pan release? thanks!
i, too, am haunted by crunchy cake sides!

Thanks for all the post. I was beginning to think I was doing something wrong. Growing up we just greased the pans with good ole butter or margarine but I thought the sprys would be better. I will try the release recipes given and see what happens.

I think the pan matters too.

I baked three cakes last night - two in Wilton pans and one in a Magic Line pan. I used the same batch of batter (WASC) in all three. All three were generously greased with Wilton Cake Release.

The two in the Wilton pans came out with brown, slightly crusted sides. The one in the Magic pan came out a pretty light color, nary a bit of crusting to be seen on the sides.

All future pan purchases will be the Magic Line pans, that's for certain!

where do you find those pans?

I got mine at a local cake supply store, but if you go to Amazon and do a search for Magic Line you'll find a bunch.

thank you