Greasing A Bundt Pan: How To Get It Right Each Time

Get your bundt cakes to come out almost perfectly with these easy tips on greasing a bundt pan. 

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Greasing a bundt, doesn’t have to be a pain in the bundt.

I love making bundt cakes, especially pound cakes in bundt pans.

Cakes baked in a bundt pan come out of the pan with a beautiful, classic look and don’t really require any primping.  You can serve as is. 

If you’ve baked with bundts before you’ve probably had a bundt cake fail.  You can use the very best bundt pan, but if you miss greasing every nook and cranny of this pan that will guarantee a bundt cake fail.

Here are some tips on greasing a bundt pan that I’ve picked up from my experiences and other’s experiences.  Hopefully these will help you in preventing any future bundt pan disasters.

Preparing a bundt pan

Tips when using non stick spray

1. Don’t do this if you are using a non stick bundt pan.  Over time, this can degrade the nonstick coating.
2.  If you are using a traditional stick bundt pan, all you need is to generously spray  the pan.   This gives good coverage and evenly coats the pan’s surface. 
3. Make sure to turn the pan while spraying. This ensures it’s evenly coated.
4. Spray just before you add the batter. This prevents the nonstick spray from dripping to the bottom of the pan and pooling while you are preparing your cake batter.
5. Though this is an effective and easy way to grease a bundt pan,  it has its drawbacks.  The slippery sides, created by the non stick spray, make it hard for the cake to grip.  This can cause it not to rise as high as it would with a butter/shortening-flour coating.

TIPS WHEN USING SHORTENING OR BUTTER

1. Use melted shortening or butter.
2. Apply the melted shortening or butter with a pastry brush.  This helps to get every nook and cranny.   Unmelted shortening or butter coats unevenly.  Leaving some areas thickly covered and other areas not covered.
3. As with non stick spray, apply the melted shortening or butter  just before adding the batter.  This prevents the oil from sliding down and pooling at the bottom.
4. I have read many articles warning that the milk solids in butter can act like glue provoking the batter to stick to the pan.  However, if, like me, you’ve had success with butter, don’t fix what’s not broken.

Tips when using flour

1. Make sure all the butter or shortening is coated with a thin layer of flour.
2. As the cake bakes the butter/shortening-flour coating creates stable sides for the cake to cling to as it rises.
3. Discard excess flour.  Excess flour can show up on the baked cake and make it look gunky.  
4. Not everyone is sold on flour as a non stick preventative; feeling that it does not provide a satisfactory non stick coating and that it leaves a dry layer of gunk on the cake.   Suggested alternatives are a finely ground nut flour or granulated sugar.
5. Speaking of coating a bundt pan with sugar,  I have done this and have mixed reviews.  It creates a crunchy, sweet, shiny crust.  However, I have had a disaster or two when sugar coating.  
6. For pound cakes coated with sugar, do not let the cake cool to long, as the sugar becomes sticky as it cools.

And last, but not least, don’t forget to coat the tube in the middle well.

I hope you find these tips helpful and here’s to many more beautiful bundt cakes.

POUND CAKE RECIPES FROM SCRATCH

• Whipping Cream Pound Cake
• Cold Oven Cream Cheese Pound Cake
• Chocolate Pound Cake #3

I use a these Nordic Ware bundt pans. These are high end, high quality pans that are coated with a non stick surface.  I have had no issues with my Nordic Ware bundt pans sticking or any other problems. However, I do still grease and flour the pans.