The one recipe that has saved us during fasting times is this vegan chocolate cake recipe, which is so good I actually make it sometimes when we aren't fasting. It is a quick and easy cake, so it is nice to serve last-minute guests when they come for coffee. The catch - I can't, no matter what I do, make it come out of the pan clean. Almost every time the bottom of the cake sticks to the pan. I've tried triple greasing the pan, baking the cake a few minutes longer, having the pan rest on it's side during cooling(which is usually the trick when it comes to getting stuff out of loaf pans), and finally I've tried letting it cool for various lengths of time, from the traditional ten minutes to 20 minutes to letting the cake cool entirely in the pan. No dice. I'm at the point of frustration where I feel like making the damn cake over and over until I can get it perfect. Yea, it is just a stupid cake, but it isn't quite so presentable with it's bottom sheared off.
I just know some of you cooking experts out there must have some tips for extracting stubborn cakes from their pans. Well, I hope you do. It is driving me nuts because I usually don't have sticking problems, and whenever I bake, it just has to be perfect.
7 comments:
Hi Mel, I'm no expert but it might be the pan you are using. Some pans are a real pain in the b...!
You said that have tried greasing. I don't recommend flouring simply because it looks unsightly when there is flour on bottom of the cake. Have you tried cutting a circle of parchment paper cut to the dimensions of the pan? After greasing the pan, line the base with the cut out circle of paper. It will come out easily from the pan but you will have to literally peel the parchment from the cake. You won't have to line the sides of the cake pan because you can run your knife around the cake pan and dislodge the cake like that.
I hope this helps somewhat. There are many, many vegan cooking blogs out there. You could always swap your current cake recipe for another one :)
I took the liberty to provide you with one of my recently discovered favorite vegan blogs: "FatFree Vegan Kitchen." This is a recipe for chocolate orange bundt cake. You can substitute apple sauce for the vegan yoghurt.
I haven't made this before but I have made other recipes from this blogger and they are delicious!
http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2007/12/chocolate-orange-cake.html
Good luck!
Popi
Can you get parchment paper in Greece? It's what I use for certain cakes and I have no problem. Or try buttering the pan lightly and then flour lightly...ciao
Why wouldn't you get parchment paper in Greece?
Anyway, yes, parchment paper is the solution, I use it for everything that involved baking. Keeps the trays fatless and easy to clean and my cakes at intended shape.
LOL- I was going to say the same- but don't let that stop you from making the cake over and over!
Ok, I'll try the parchment paper trick. I've never used parchment paper before, so I'm not exactly sure what it is. I have this stuff I use to freeze meat and roll out pie crusts with - I think it is called 'baking' paper. Would that be the same thing?
Rositta - I hadn't even thought of flouring. I knew there was one thing I should have remembered (but I'm a lazy baker, and every time a recipe tells me to grease AND flour I groan a little bit). Parchment paper sounds easier, and cleaner though!
I'm glad that you posted this...now I can try to bake a cake without it sticking! I have the same problem. I always use the excuse that I much prefer to cook rather than bake.
I typically use a nonstick baking pan, butter/grease it, and then flour it. Flouring after you grease doesn't actually add much time or labor; in fact, it would probably take longer to cut the parchment paper to size. That said, parchment paper is kind of miraculous!
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