Before trying to remove a cake from a pan, it's important to let the cake cool for at least 30 minutes, says chef Dianne Rossomando of The Culinary Institute of America. Once the cake is cool, she makes a gap between the wall of the pan and the cake using a paring knife. Whatever you do, she says, don't try to use a tool to pry the cake out -- trying to use a spatula or knife to lift it out will likely end in breakage. Instead, place a plate over the top of the cake and invert it, then lift the pan off of the cake. Once the cake is out of the pan, you can hold it by the edges and flip it over so the rounded (top) side is up.
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Hi, I'm Chef Rossomando from the Culinary Institute of America, and I'm going to show you this kitchen basic: how to remove a cake from a pan.
We're going to remove our cake from our pan. You don't want to try to remove a cake from its pan directly from the oven - it'll stick to the pan, it's difficult to handle while it's hot - so you should always let it cool for a good half hour or so.
This cake has cooled, and I'm going to make sure there's a little gap between the wall of the pan and the cake itself. I'm going to use a paring knife to just run around the edge of the cake pan.
Please don't use an offset spatula, a spatula, or another tool or utensil to remove this from the pan by prying it out; you must invert it, flip it over, to remove it. We've made sure there is no seal left, the cake is removed from the sides; now I'll take my cake plate, invert it on top of the pan, and flip over the pan and the plate together. I'll remove the cake pan, just lifting it up and off. You can see there's some leftover cake crumbs on the inside. Now we'll flip this cake back over, so you can see the upright side of it.
This is how you remove a cake from a cake pan.