Unless your recipe specifies otherwise, let the cake cool completely to allow the structure to solidify. Cooling the cake on a wire rack speeds up the process, as it allows air to circulate underneath the cake pan as well.
Let the cake cool.
It should spend at least twenty to thirty minutes on your cooling rack or countertop before you even attempt to remove it from its pan.
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.
Remove the cake from the baking pan.
As soon as your warm cake has cooled at room temperature for ten minutes, gently remove it from the bottom of the cake pan. This allows the bottom and sides of the cake to stop drawing in the warmth of the pan itself.
Our recommendation on how long to cool a cake before icing it is to wait 2-3 hours for your cake to cool completely.
Here's a solution: If you find you underbaked your cake soon after removing it from the oven and it's still hot, pop it back in and bake it at least another 10 to 15 minutes more. Remember to do the doneness test before removing from the oven and cooling.
Wait until your cake is fully cooled before removing it, this may take 2-3 hours. Run a butter knife or a palette knife around the inside edges of the cake tin. Get a cooling rack.
Turning a warm or hot cake out of a baking pan too quickly, will crack and fall apart. Cake layers that cool in the pan too long will stick unless lined with parchment paper. If your cake has cooled in pan and was greased with shortening & flour, this will cause the cake layers to stick in cake pans.
Cooling cakes
Recipes will usually give instructions for cooling but as a general rule, most sponge cakes are best left for a few minutes and then turned onto a cooling rack to avoid soggy edges. Rich fruit cakes are better cooled in the tin.
If you are cooling a sponge or angel food cake, it is recommended that you cool the cake upside down. This can be done by turning the pan upside down and setting the tube part over the neck of a stable bottle. Turning it upside down for cooling helps prevent it from collapsing as it cools.
The batter contains too much raising agent. Too much baking powder will cause a cake to rise too quickly and too much, making it crack or spill over the sides of the tin. Reducing the amount of raising agent or using a combination of plain and self-raising flours will help produce a more even surface.
You didn't cut your parchment paper to size.
It's an easy way to prevent your cake from sticking to the bottom of the cake pan.
Unfrosted: Before refrigerating, wrap the cake or cake layers in plastic wrap to protect them from drying out or absorbing refrigerator smells. Frosted: Chill the cake uncovered for 15 minutes to harden the icing, then loosely wrap it in plastic wrap.
If you're using a recipe, it will usually say. Otherwise, give it 10–15 minutes. It's still baking when you take it out of the oven; if you mess with it now, it'll be underbaked. There's this concept called thermal moment, which is thankfully pretty self-explanatory, so that's all I'm gonna say about it.
Wait until the cakes have cooled completely, or for the best results, chill the layers before trimming. When the cake is cool and more firm, it's less likely to crack or tear.
We know the temptation to check on your cake is high, but we're here to give you one of our top tips: don't open the oven when baking. This is a common mistake, and can cause your cake to collapse because the rush of cold air stops your caking from rising.
Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to sit in the pan on the cooling rack for 15 minutes. Loosen the sides of the cake from the pan with a butter knife or small flat spatula. Turn out the cake and place it directly onto the cooling rack until cooled completely.
Bake as directed. When cool, invert the cake onto a cooling rack. Remove the pan, and simply lift off the parchment paper. It's that easy!
Yes, you grease the pan and then also grease the parchment. This creates an ultra-nonstick environment for your cake. The cake won't stick to the pan, and the parchment round won't stick to the cake.
It may sound like overkill, but the most effective way to ensure that a cake releases cleanly from a baking pan is to grease the pan, line it with parchment paper, and then grease and flour the parchment and pan sides.
The most common reason why cakes sink in the middle is that they're underbaked. If a cake isn't fully baked through, the center doesn't have a chance to set and it will sink. This creates a doughy, dense texture in the center of your cake layer.