When Do You 'turn Out' Your Cakes?
Decorating By IDoCakesinTX Updated 16 Jun 2017 , 1:59pm by yortma
At what point do you level your cakes with a cake leveler? Do you do it before or after you freeze them? Also, what is the point of freezing the cakes? Don't they have to come to room temp before you decorate them? Thanks!!!
I level mine before removing them from the pans. That way I guarantee a flat surface. I won't split mine until after I freeze them and right before decorating. I prefer to ice mine when they are still cold but not frozen because it makes them firmer. Freezing them makes them easier for me to handle (slightly more dense I find) and keeps them nice and moist. If I don't freeze them, they actually don't taste as good.
aswartzw, thanks so much for the quick release recipe. This sounds like it ends up thick. Do you grease your pans with it like with butter? Then if you do, do you dust with flour after? Thank you!!!
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I'm also a minority as I flip them asap.
Remove from oven.
Press down with towel (makes the cake a bit 'denser' to me .. beautiful texture!)
Level while still in pan, if needed.
Flip out onto cooling rack (flip again so cake is sitting on bottom).
Time elapsed? 2 minutes.
When cake is warm to the touch, wrap in saran and throw in freezer.
I wanted to say Thank You to all of you for the "Cake Release Recipe" It has helped me so much! I made it and used it on the very next cake and it came out so well, the best ever!! The idea of the timer and 10 mins for flipping out the cake was awesome!! Thank you again, everyone!!
I have turned the cakes out anywhere from almost immediately, to hours later, and I don't think it makes a difference in the final result. If the cake is still warm, it is more fragile and just requires a little more TLC. I always use parchment and homemade cake release, (and run a knife around the edge just to be sure) before laying a rack across the top of the pan and then flipping it out. I peel off the parchment and immediately flip it onto another rack so it is right side up. If the cake has even a small dome and it is upside town, I think it will bend and be more likely to crack, or will compress, which is counterproductive to a light fluffy cake. (Sorry, but the thought of pressing down on the cake to level it horrifies me!!) Loosely cover with wrap, and more completely wrap when cooled. If heading out of the house, I often just leave the cake in the pan and cover the pan with wrap (make sure the pan has cooled a little or wrap will melt) or foil, and then remove from pan as above even hours later. I think the main reason for turning out the cakes at 10 minutes is that it has cooled a little, and is less fragile, but also that the pan release has not re-solidified, which would make it more likely to stick. If using parchment, it is not an issue. Otherwise, I can't imagine any difference between cooling out of the pan vs in the pan. The bottom and edges might even be less likely to dry out in the pan.
I virtually always level my cakes with an Agbay so they are 1) level, of course, 2) all layers are equal, 3) especially for white cakes, the browned surface is removed and 4) snacks! er, quality control testing. Sometimes I do it right away before wrapping and freezing (I freeze almost everything) but more often I wait until the cake is assembled. More efficient to do it for all layers/entire cake at once, but mostly because I sometimes change my mind about the height of each layer/tier as the design progresses. In that case, I thaw the cakes, level and assemble. HTH
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