How To Prepare a Bundt Pan

A Bundt cake is simple and beautiful to present to your family or guests. Bundt pans come in various designs and styles and create a stunning presentation served with a glaze or dusted with icing sugar on top. But when you bake that cake and it’s time to flip it over, you hold your breath that it will turn out smoothly. To release the stress (and the cake out of the pan), you want to create a non-stick layer between the pan and the batter. That would be fat like butter or oil, along with the flour. Also, know that thick or dense cake batters work better in Bundt pans than light batters such as cake mixes. That is why more Bundt pan recipes are pound cakes and thick batters.

Here are my top tips for baking in a Bundt to reduce this anxiety:

Use a non-stick good quality Bundt pan to start. Be careful if you’re using grandma’s old pan with scratches; your cake may not release smoothly. I love Nordic Ware because they’re made from cast aluminum and such good quality.
Grease the pan using softened butter or shortening using a pastry brush. Spread it evenly all over the pan, and don’t forget the center tube.
Do not use a regular cooking spray because it doesn’t work very well, and the cake may stick to the pan.
If you’re making a light-colored cake, dust some flour on top of the butter, shake and tap it all around the pan and discard the excess flour.
For chocolate cakes, use sifted cocoa powder on top of the butter and apply the same method of tapping it all around the pan before discarding the excess.
After pouring the batter, gently tap the pan firmly on the countertop to help the batter settle into the details of the pan and remove air bubbles.
After baking the cake, let it cool for at least 10 minutes, then loosen the edges of the cake. Once again, don’t forget the tube. Release the edges of the cake there too.
Invert the pan onto a cooling rack or platter and lift the pan off gently. The cake should easily release.
Bundt cakes don’t need heavy decoration, so you can show the details of the pan. Instead, you can use a glaze or icing sugar applying it lightly on top.
For cleaning the Bundt pan, soak it in hot soapy water and use a sponge to clean all the details and corners of the pan.