The difference between a good cake recipe and a great one is all in the details. A perfect Chocolate Soufflé Cake can go from perfectly puffy to battered and burnt in a matter of minutes if youre not careful.
A good chef knows that to set yourself up for success in the kitchen, you should have your “mise en place” ready before you do any cooking. Mise en place is a French term for having all your ingredients together and translates to “setting in place,” (per Merriam-Webster). When youre baking a cake, according to Southern Living, this means you should have all your eggs cracked, butter softened, cake pans greased, and so on. The more prepared you are, the smoother your experience will go.
Take that preparation a step further and read over your recipe a few times to make sure you didnt miss anything and to get the timing right. Theres often a lot more cooking to a cake recipe than just baking in the oven — for example, meringues need whipping, and butter needs browning. Plus, each pan bakes at a different rate (per Food Network). Make sure your recipe includes directions from beginning to end, including cooling time, so you dont go through all the work of baking a beautiful bundt and then foul it up in the home stretch by trying to get it out of the pan too soon. But if your recipe is lacking, heres how to know when its time to de-pan the goods.
You might have heard something about getting cakes out of the pan quickly to prevent overbaking the cake and leaving it dry. Carryover cooking, as explained by Cooks Illustrated, is when your cake (or steak, or chicken) continues to cook even after it comes out of the oven. Because the cake pan conducts the heat, your cake will, indeed, continue to increase in temperature for a few minutes out of the oven. This is no reason to take your cake out of the pan before its time, however. If your cake recipe is well written, it will tell you to remove your cake at just the right time so that it is cooked through, and also account for a little carryover heat in the pan. This is usually when you can insert a toothpick in the center of the cake and it pulls out clean. Some professional bakers prefer to bake cakes to temperature these days, which you can do at home too – King Arthur Baking Company advises that the temperature range of a baked cake is between 200 to 210 degrees Fahreniheit.
When the cake first comes out of the oven, its cooked through but the hot “crumb” — the mass of the cake — is delicate. If you try to get it out of the pan too soon it can stick to the pan, break, or both. For most cakes, allow around 20 to 30 minutes at room temperature for cooling (per MasterClass).
If youre in a rush to get to the good part, the eating, speed up the cooling process up by popping the cake in the refrigerator. Once the cake is cool to the touch you can attempt to take it out of the pan.
If the edges are stuck to the sides of the pan, slide a sharp knife all the way around the perimeter of the cake, making sure the knife touches the bottom. Martha Stewart says this is especially helpful with bundt cakes as they have a lot of nooks and crannies that can stick. Next, place a plate or platter on top of the cake pan and flip it over. If you did your mise en place properly and greased the pans thoroughly, your cake should slide right out. If not, dont panic. Give the pan a couple of hard taps on the bottom, and if that still doesnt dislodge it, do a little finessing with a small spatula.
Once you have the cake out of the pan, its not quite ready for frosting. The next step is to cool it a little bit longer, as Betty Crocker explains that because your cake is still fragile, and the frosting can pull and tear. Also, any lingering warmth inside the cake will melt the frosting. If you dont want to lose any cream cheese frosting, let your cake cool on a wire rack for another two or three hours before slathering on the sweet stuff.
It’s important to pay attention to the specifics called for in a recipe, but in general, most cakes are best removed from the pan after cooling for 10 to 20 minutes. Try it too soon, and it may fall apart. Wait too long, and it may stick.
If youre in a rush to get to the good part, the eating, speed up the cooling process up by popping the cake in the refrigerator. Once the cake is cool to the touch you can attempt to take it out of the pan.
Once you have the cake out of the pan, its not quite ready for frosting. The next step is to cool it a little bit longer, as Betty Crocker explains that because your cake is still fragile, and the frosting can pull and tear. Also, any lingering warmth inside the cake will melt the frosting. If you dont want to lose any cream cheese frosting, let your cake cool on a wire rack for another two or three hours before slathering on the sweet stuff.
When the cake first comes out of the oven, its cooked through but the hot “crumb” — the mass of the cake — is delicate. If you try to get it out of the pan too soon it can stick to the pan, break, or both. For most cakes, allow around 20 to 30 minutes at room temperature for cooling (per MasterClass).
If the edges are stuck to the sides of the pan, slide a sharp knife all the way around the perimeter of the cake, making sure the knife touches the bottom. Martha Stewart says this is especially helpful with bundt cakes as they have a lot of nooks and crannies that can stick. Next, place a plate or platter on top of the cake pan and flip it over. If you did your mise en place properly and greased the pans thoroughly, your cake should slide right out. If not, dont panic. Give the pan a couple of hard taps on the bottom, and if that still doesnt dislodge it, do a little finessing with a small spatula.
The difference between a good cake recipe and a great one is all in the details. A perfect Chocolate Soufflé Cake can go from perfectly puffy to battered and burnt in a matter of minutes if youre not careful.
WHEN To Remove Cakes From Pans: Answering Your Biggest Question!
FAQ
How long should you leave cake in pan after baking?
Do you let a cake cool before you flip it out of the pan?
Should cake pull away from pan?
How long should you leave a cake in the pan before removing?
Assuming you mean how long should you leave cake in the pan before removing it to cool, the answer is about 10 minutes. You want to wait until the cake has pulled away from the sides of the pan and is starting to firm up before flipping it out onto a wire rack or plate. If you try to remove the cake too soon, it’s likely to stick and/or fall apart.
How long do you let a cake cool before removing?
So, I recommend: Let a Cake Cool for 20-30 minutes before removing from the pan You want the pans cool enough so that you can hold them around the edges with no problem. However, if the bottom is still too hot to hold comfortably for more than 30 seconds, that is OK–you want the pan cool enough to handle, but not completely cool.
How long should you wait before removing a cake?
After you’ve baked a cake, you need to let it cool before removing it from the pan. If you try to remove it too soon, it could fall apart. So how long should you wait? The general rule is to wait about 10 minutes for an 8-inch cake, 15 minutes for a 9-inch cake, and 20 minutes for a 10-inch cake.
Can you take a cake out if it’s still warm?
If you attempt to take your cake out of the pan while it’s still warm, you risk the cake coming out with pieces still stuck to the pan. As a rule of thumb, you have to let the pan cool for at least 30 minutes before taking it out—larger cakes will need longer. When completely cool, you can get down to the job of removing the cake from the pan.