Best Ways to Get a Stuck Bundt Cake Out of the Pan
Everyone loves cake, and a Bundt cake is a type of cake that’s usually beautifully designed and shaped like the rounded pan it is baked inside of. However, it is not fun when your yummy cake you worked hard on is stuck to the pan and won’t come out in one piece! How can you you’re your cake from falling apart? Here are several of the best ways to get a stuck bundt cake out of the pan safely:
- Steam Method
For this method, you need boiling water and a dish towel or other kind of towel. First boil some water, then put the clean towel into the bottom of a dry sink. Next, carefully (watch you don’t pour too fast as it will splash up and burn your hand !) pour the boiling water onto the towel until it is damp, but not dripping wet.
Then, you have to drape your towel overtop the Bundt pan. Leave the hot towel there for at least fifteen to twenty minutes. This produces steam due to moisture from the hot towel. After the time is up, take off the towel and carefully turn the cake pan upside down. Your cake should come out cleanly in one piece!
- Spatula Method
Is it still stuck? There are other things you can try. First, make sure it is cool, as hot cakes won’t usually come out cleanly. Take a rubber spatula and carefully run it all around the edges of the Bundt pan. Make sure you don’t miss a spot. Do not use a knife! You may be tempted to use a knife, but that could cut into your cake and ruin it so it falls apart.
Then, slowly turn the Bundt pan over onto a plate or cutting board. Use one of your hands to hold onto the edge of the pan, keep it about an inch above the plate. Then gently pat the bottom of the pan with your other hand. Your cake should come out cleanly. Be sure to tap, not shake the pan! Shaking could cause it to fall apart.
- Hot water method
This works on the same principle as the steam method, but uses hot water instead of a wet towel. Put the plug into your kitchen sink. Then put two or three inches of boiling water into the sink. Place a piece of aluminum foil over the top of your cake pan and seal it so water can’t get into it.
Place the cake pan into the hot water. Be careful not to put your hands in the water so you don’t get burned. Then put a towel over the sink to hold in the heat. Let the pan sit there for at least ten or fifteen minutes. Then, carefully lift it out of the sink. You likely should use pot holders as the pan will still be hot.
Then, as before, hold the pan upside down over a plate and gently tap it with your hand or a spoon to loosen it up. It should come out of the cake pan cleanly.
- Cooling Rack Method
You should never try to remove a cake from a Bundt or any other kind of pan while it is still hot and fresh from the oven. It likely will just fall apart. You must allow the cake to totally cool down. Normally that could take up to a half hour.
For this method, you need a cooling rack. If you set the pan onto a cooling rack with the cake inside, the air can flow freely all around the cake on all sides and the bottom, which is better air flow than just sitting the pan straight onto a counter. After it is totally cool, run a rubber spatula around the edges and carefully upturn it onto a plate, and it should come out cleanly.
- Refrigerator Method
If you are in a hurry, you can cool it in the refrigerator. You still should let it cool outside the fridge for around fifteen minutes until you can pick it up without pot holders. Then, stick the pan in the refrigerator and allow it to stay there for about another fifteen minutes. Then, you do as above and use a rubber spatula to carefully go around the edges, then upturn the cake pan onto your plate to get it out in one piece.
- Tapping method
Sometimes it works merely by tapping the bottom of the bundt pan with a spoon and upturning it over your plate. If you have adequately oiled or floured your pan ahead of time, it may easily fall out in one piece onto your plate.
- Upside down method
Another simple method is to just leave the pan upside down on a plate for about fifteen minutes. Then, when it is cool, pick the pan up carefully and gently remove it from your bundt pan by using a spatula around the edges. This works because it lets the shortening used to oil your pan melt and loosen up the cake.
- Microwave method
Still have a problem? Try this method. Put a cup of water in the microwave for a couple minutes until the water is boiling. Then, put the cake pan over the top of your cup. Leave it there for several minutes with the microwave door shut. Don’t turn the microwave on! You don’t want to start a fire with a metal pan! Then, after several minutes take the pan out and use the above methods of tapping the bottom of the pan, running a spatula around the edges and carefully putting the cake on a plate.
- Warm oven method
First, cool the cake completely. Then, set your oven to 250°F. Then, put the pan in the over and set the timer for five minutes. Then, take the cat out with pot holders and put it upside down onto a plate or cooling rack. It should slide right out of the pan without too much effort!
- Freezer method
First, totally cool down the cake. Then run a rubber spatula around all the pan’s edges like in previous methods. Then, put the cake pan into the freezer. Let it stay in there until it freezes, about two hours. Then, take it out and again run your spatula around the edges. Then, turn the pan upside down and it should come out. Of course, you will have to wait until it thaws to eat it, so this method is likely the last resort.