Grease and flour your cake pans in one step using this Homemade Cake Release! Made with 3 simple ingredients, this cake goop guarantees perfect cakes, muffins and breads every time!!
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Imagine this: you’ve spent an hour carefully beating butter, sugar and eggs, sifting flour and cleaning the mess as you go. The oven is timer has gone off and the cake that exits is soft, moist and bouncy. But, once the cake is cooled and you’ve turned it over, it sticks to the pan and falls apart. Believe me, I’ve been there and it is NOT fun.
I’ve got good news for you though, after today, that will never happen again! Today’s recipe is the simplest Homemade Cake Release that turns out a beautiful cake time and time again.
For years, this has been my best kept baking secret and now, I’m sharing it with you!
Perks and Highlights of Homemade Cake Release
Cuisine Inspiration: Baker’s Essential
Primary Cooking Method: Mixing
Dietary Info: Contains Gluten and Fat
Key Flavor: Neutral (It’s all about what it does, not how it tastes!)
Skill Level: Easy Peasy
Special Perks:
- No More Stick: Say goodbye to the heartache of your culinary masterpiece sticking to the pan. This cake release mix is like the superhero of non-stick. Cakes slip right out, leaving not a crumb behind!
- Budget-Friendly: Why splurge on store-bought non-stick sprays when you can create your magic potion with just three simple, wallet-friendly ingredients?
- Less is More: You don’t need a whole arsenal of ingredients. Three humble kitchen staples – oil, flour, and shortening – come together to save the day. It’s minimalism at its finest!
- Easy Storage: Whip up a good batch, and store it with love in your fridge. It’ll return the favor by staying good for a solid three months (though, we bet you’ll use it up way sooner with all the baking you’ll be inspired to do!).
- Universal Use: This mixture knows no bounds. Use it for any cake recipe demanding a non-stick solution. Chocolate, vanilla, marble, you name it! It’s like the little black dress of the baking world – suitable for every occasion.
Ready to make your baking life a zillion times easier? Let’s mix up this miraculous concoction and get those cakes sliding out of the pans like a dream!
What is Cake Release?
Known as pan release, cake release or cake goop, it is a mixture of flour, vegetable oil and shortening that’s used to coat baking pans. Cake Release is an essential in my home pantry; it’s a one step process that leaves my cake flour residue-free and without any damage.
How to Make Homemade Cake Pan Release
Cake release recipes can vary in ingredients but, for the most part, they include equal parts flour, vegetable oil and shortening. I use a cup of each which makes quite a bit of goop. If you’d like to make more or less, just adjust the measurements, making sure to maintain the equal ratios.
To make, place all the ingredients in one bowl and mix until incorporated and lump-free. Voila!
How to Use Pan Release
Using cake release couldn’t be simpler. When the oven is preheated and the batter is ready to go, dip a rubber pastry brush into the mixture and brush it onto your pan. Alternatively, you could use your hands (after being washed of course), or a wad of paper towel. I like to go pretty heavy with the release to ensure absolutely no sticking.
Listen, you totally could buy a store-bought cake release or a non-stick spray, but this recipe will put those to shame. Inexpensive, simple and foolproof, this cake release is a baker’s best friend. Trust me.
How to Store
I prefer to store Homemade Cake Release in a glass jar or container, but plastic will work too. No matter which you use, make sure it’s airtight. Stored at room temperature, it will last for up to 3 months. If in the refrigerator, it will last for about 6 months.
Honestly though, this is one of those pantry items that just about never goes bad. The ingredients themselves are non-perishable and can withstand long storage periods. Just take a whiff before each use; if it smells bad, toss. It’s that simple.
Best Baking Guides
Chances are, if you’ve found your way to this blog, you’re someone who enjoys a baked good or two. If so, it’s always a good idea to have a few nifty baking tricks in your arsenal.
Check out some of my best ones:
Homemade Cake Release
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Ingredients
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup shortening melted
Instructions
- Mix all of the ingredients together.
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It lasts for up to 6 months.
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Can i use butter instead of shortening? I’d store it in the fridge.
Yes you can. Let me know how it works for you.
I just came to sing the praises of this cake release recipe. Made myself a jar of it over a month ago and now I don’t have to fuss with parchment and scissors or worry where I put the cupcake liners. I used to specifically dread the “butter and flour the pan” step because it was always a mess when I just wanted to hurry up and get the pan in the oven. Now I just pull out the cake release and smear it on and everything pops out fine. Before I read this article, I had never even heard of cake release so you have truly shared a baker’s secret with us! Thanks for all your wisdom GBC, but especially for this game changer.
Maybe I’ll make a GF version with rice flour too.
Thank you for this! Question: if I’m making cakelets, would I re-goop after each small cake removal, and before putting more batter in the mold, or would it work for baking two batches before needing to re-apply?
I would definitely re-apply before adding in the next batch to ensure that they come out clean.
Hi there, what’s your take on using butter-flavored Crisco? Great as is, I just thought it would add that additional butter flavor.
Yes you can totally use this for the additional flavor.
This recipe has been a game changer for my Bundt cakes! (Your lemon blueberry pound is my absolute favorite!) Have you tried the cake release with a cheesecake? Just wondering if it would help keep the crust from sticking to the springform.
I’m so so glad this works so well for you. I haven’t tried for cheesecake but I think this is fine.
Wow thanks everyone! I guess I’ll use the goop too! I have been having problems with the cake sticking !
I’m a fam of yours and also a show named “Nailed It” on Netflix. So i was inspired to try your goop for a coke i made for my niece, I called the Busy Mom cake. It’s a red velvet bundt cake with baby cakes cut out with a biscuit cutter topping it off. My cakes came out beautifully thanks to your goop!!
Oh that’s absolutely fantastic!!!
What specifically do you use when you say shortening? CriscoI? Butter? Lard?
Hi Mary, you can use Crisco!
Thank you! My mom had a gorgeous Bundt pan which never gave her anything but problems when trying to remove the pan. I’m happy to report that your cake release worked beautifully on this same fussy pan when I recently used it for a bourbon cake, and I expect it will work equally well for the many other cakes I’m now inspired to bake in it (and my many other pans)!
Goop of the gods! We just tried it out on our fussy Bundt pan, and it is miracle sludge. I’ll never use anything else.
After I spread the cake release in my cake pan, do I also flour it?
No need to. The flour is already in the cake release.