The Chef-Approved Parchment Paper Tip That Makes Lining Cake Pans A Breeze
If you've been baking for long enough, you have probably experienced the great disappointment that comes with pulling a crumbling cake out of the oven that has stuck to the pan. Especially if you're looking to present your delicious cake to a dessert-loving group of friends, this can lead you right back to the drawing board to start from scratch. Parchment paper is a godsend for this kitchen mishap, lined with slippery silicone and able to repel grease and heat, and will ensure your baked goods come out in one piece. That is if you're able to line your pan's edges completely.
There are several ways to ensure those pesky, awkward corners of your baking pan get lined, whether you prefer to shape it yourself or would rather buy some handy pre-cut parchment paper to minimize prep time. Using scissors to cut slits down the corners of your parchment paper is one approach you can take, letting the edges fold in on themselves and seal off every little crevice. If you've got a round pan, you might have to do a bit of parchment paper origami to create a disc shape that sits in the pan just right.
Out of all the parchment paper mistakes a baker can make, not using it at all would have to take the cake. If you're in the zone and don't feel like carefully approximating the right parchment paper size, there's an easier baking hack you can try that's a real time-saver.
Use water to turn your parchment paper into a damp cloth
Baking is already a precise and tedious art form, so if there's a way to make it just a bit less time-consuming by eliminating guesstimating parchment paper cuts, we'll take it. So you can put those scissors down and reach for the faucet instead. Gerhard Jenne, owner of the London-based custom cake shop Konditor advised The Guardian to first tear off a piece that's big enough to fit whatever pan shape you're using. Simply crumple your parchment paper, let some water run over it, and wring out the extra water. Now you've got something that resembles a wet cloth, without weakening the strength of the paper itself. Now, instead of delicately lining your pan as you normally would, just shove it right in there. Corners, be gone.
This easy trick is also a convenient way to keep your cake pan clean. Using wet parchment paper eliminates the need to butter or grease the pan before lining it, keeping it clean and ready to be reused. So once your cake or homemade bread recipe is done baking, it should come out of the pan looking the way you intended it to, minus having chunks sticking to the pan. It's best not to skip out on waiting the recommended 10 to 15 minutes for it to cool down before removing it from the pan, even with this method. Parchment paper can be one of the most important tools in your baking arsenal, especially when you know how to maximize its benefits.