Bundt Pans: Everything About Them

[Manoras]

Whenever I bake in my bundt pans the chocolate cakes never come out in one piece. I grease and dust with flour or cocoa powder but they always come out knicked or little chunks get left behind. I even searched for a recipe for mini bundt chocolate cakes, found one of Emeril's and I still have the same problem. What am I missing?

[K8memphis]

I don't know. I have rose pans y'know that bake a rose shaped muffin--I have the mini bundt too but I haven't used it yet. I noticed that when I used a regular cake mix they tend to stick horribly but not always . When I bake a fruit bread or use a doctored mix, specifically the melted ice cream one from the Cake Mix Doctor, they come out perfect. So maybe it's your recipe as you suspect. It seems heavier products fare better but this is not a scientific all inclusive recommendation. Just my own causal observation.

And putting them in the dishwasher is a no-no. Also I grease them with either pan goop* or heavy spray of pam and flour.

*There's different formulas but basically cream equal parts of shortening and flour then add an equal part of oil--keep in a plastic container and apply with a brush or paper towel.

[Pam R]

I no longer flour pans. I find they release better for me with just a liberal spraying of Pam/veg oil.

[claire797]

*There's different formulas but basically cream equal parts of shortening and flour then add an equal part of oil--keep in a plastic container and apply with a brush or paper towel.

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The melted shortening and flour combo works perfectly. What I do is mix those together, paint them on the pans and then put the pans in the freezer to harden the shortening.

But a much, much easier way is to just use flour-added Pam -- the new kind, which they've made especially for bakers. It works much better than regular baking spray and has a nice smell.

[kitchpig]

For chocolate cakes & especially flourless chocolate cakes, we use a coat of spray release & sugar instead of flour. Also the temp is important, not to cool, and not to hot. Practice, practice, practice......

[TMus1111]

Another vote for the Pam with flour added - everything slides right out of all my pans.

[Beanie]

I've used Pam with flour successfully baking chocolate cakes and cheesecakes in mini bundt pans. I've also frozen them and then released using heat gun; popped out perfectly.

[rooftop1000]

Just actually saw a show on the Bundt pan...go figure ... it was designed for a very heavy german cake batter. I think the cake was actually called Bund but the manufacturer added the T for his pan.

tracey

ahh herehttp://www.nordicware.com/founders.cfm

[sanrensho]

*There's different formulas but basically cream equal parts of shortening and flour then add an equal part of oil--keep in a plastic container and apply with a brush or paper towel.

Does adding oil help with release? (I'm glad we're talking about baking...)

I've been using the 1:1 flour/shortening formula and notice that it seems to require a heavy hand during application. I'm using aluminum pans, no parchment.

Edited December 1, 2005 by sanrensho (log)

[K8memphis]

*There's different formulas but basically cream equal parts of shortening and flour then add an equal part of oil--keep in a plastic container and apply with a brush or paper towel.

Does adding oil help with release? (I'm glad we're talking about baking...)

I've been using the 1:1 flour/shortening formula and notice that it seems to require a heavy hand during application. I'm using aluminum pans, no parchment.

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I haven't tried the 1:1. When I first tried the one with the oil in it, I melted the shortening--it didn't work for me. Just slapping it all together worked.

Yeah I love those all in one baking sprays. But when I use that aerosol stuff I try not to breath that stuff in. I spray holding my breath & leave the room. I mean especially for a huge pan--that's a lotta airborne grease.

Yeah, like you didn't already know I was weird?!

[Steven Blaski]

Whenever I bake in my bundt pans the chocolate cakes never come out in one piece.  I grease and dust with flour or cocoa powder but they always come out knicked or little chunks get left behind.    I even searched for a recipe for mini bundt chocolate cakes, found one of Emeril's and I still have the same problem.  What am I missing?

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Maybe the problem isn't how you're greasing the pan but how/when you're unmolding the cake? Unmolding delicate cakes immediately may cause them to fall apart. For a bundt pan cake let it cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before unmolding.

[sanrensho]

Does anyone else find that the 1:1 baker's grease tends require a heavy application?

When I used butter, it only required a thin coating. Maybe I'm getting thrown off by the creaming of the braker's grease, which makes it look like I'm applying more.

[andiesenji]

I have several of the very intricate Bundt cake pans, including "Bavaria" "cathedral" "wreath" "Christmas tree wreath" "festival" and "fleur de lis" (in addition to several of the original type)

I just ordered the "castle" pan. I also have several other figural cake pans/molds and some fancy shaped loaf pans.

In these very detailed molds, I use a baker's release spray called Bak-Klene which is made by the same company that makes Vegalene, which I also use.

However the cakes I bake in these are fairly dense, which may be the difference, however, they release cleanly from the pan with nothing left behind.

I will report on how the "castle" pan works after I have had a chance to test it.Bak-Klene and etc.

Edited December 2, 2005 by andiesenji (log)

[yourmyboyblue]

i use mini bundt molds at work for a dessert. it worked great until you bake a couple of hundred out of one mold

to get mine out now i spray the molds with pan release(vegaline) and throw the mold into the oven for about 5 minutes. then i spray again and scoop my batter in.

bake until they are done and pop out when they come out of the oven. works every time for me....

[andiesenji]

I just came across two new designs in Bundt-type pans.

Fluted mold - "Arabesque"

and

Tulip pan

Lots of design and color possibilities with these pans.

[Sugarella]

Well now I've seen them! Thanks for posting.

[Darcie B]

Damn you, andiesenji - I have been trying to reduce the size of my bundt pan collection

I like the Arabesque but not so much the tulip pan.

I gave away the Nordicware Bundt Rose pan to a friend, and vowed not to purchase any more. However, I may have to break that vow.

I have the following Nordicware shaped bundt pans:

Original

Chrysanthemum

Fleur de lis

Violet

Star

Bavaria

Cathedral

Festival

I don't use them as much as I would like. (One can eat only so many pound cakes.)

Thanks for the links!

[Carolyn Tillie]

Perusing their site, I had no idea there were so many more designs! I had never seen the castle - although I have long been using the cathedral for years...

[andiesenji]

I have several of the original, including a huge one that takes almost a double recipe.

I don't have the Festival or the Rose but have the others on your list.

I also have the American Star, the Sunflower, the Wreath and the Christmas Tree Ring and one that is rather architectural in design but different from Cathedral. It is a Kaisercast pan called "Domus" and I have the 12 cup. it also comes in a 3 cup version.

I have three other Kaisercast pans and a large "Braid" loaf pan which I use a lot. Bundt-type pans at Chef's

Kaisercast pans

I also have the Kaisercast Saphir

I haven't used all of them yet, however eventually they will all be used. The problem is that I get new ones but keep going back to my favorites.

[natasha1270]

Andie,

Those are beautiful, especially the "Arabesque" and "Cathedral". ::biting lip:: I want, I want... but no room! ::sigh::

I have a few of the Kaiser bundt pans and one of the Nordicware mini-bundt (6 minis).

William-Sonoma had a variant of the Castle earlier this winter called "Hansel and Gretel". I can't find a link on their website but there are a few listings on eBay that have recently completed.

Thanks for the info!

N.

[zilla369]

I had the fluer-de-lis at my last job. I was so scared of that pan! But....after it was correctly seasoned, the cakes popped out like a dream.

[andiesenji]

My favorites are the Christmas Wreath and the Christmas Tree Ring. They show it with a light-colored cake, however I made a pistachio cake which turned out nicely green, I surrounded it with macaroon coconut, then dusted it with XXX sugar and it looked like the trees were in snow.

[maggiethecat]

I have the Cathedral and the Daisy, and wish I owned every single one! They are articles of enchantment to me, miniature architecture. I'd love a wall of shelves with the pans displayed as objects of enchantment.

But, so little space, and I am not a professional pastrycook. I might need to get the pan that makes the six mini-flowers. And that Arabesque...

[andiesenji]

I am going to change some things in my kitchen and plan on a wall area where these (and some other unusual pans and molds) can be displayed like plates or bowls, only showing the outside instead of the inside. I have a lot of copper molds and before I remodeled in '94, I had almost all of them displayed on the soffit above the cabinets along one wall. I think that mixing these pans with the copper molds should make an interesting display, not to mention making them easier to store.

[andiesenji]

For those that may be interested in the Christmas designs

PCD Cooking Enthusiasts

Has the tree-ring and the wreathe Bundt pans on clearance for 19.99 each (instead of 34.99).

I haven't gone through all the clearance items but I did get a separate email with a notice that all their Emile Henry bakeware was on sale.