You'll never have to buy pan release again after you make your own cake goop!
Cake goop is super simple to make and works every time for a perfect cake release.
Seriously, I wish someone had told me about this amazing stuff before. It's stupid easy and takes only a minute to make and you know what? Your cakes will turn out every single time. No parchment. No flour and shortening messes. No using a knife to cut around the edges. No more buying pan release spray!
You're welcome.
How to make your own cake goop
It's super simple to make your own pan release. Just mix equal parts flour, vegetable oil and vegetable shortening (or margarine). Then combine it all in a mixer on low or hand stir. If you have some lumps, no biggie. When it's smooth and homogenous, you're done. Easy right?
I store my cake goop in a container and leave it on the countertop because I use it a lot but if you want, you can put yours in the fridge but truly, it doesn't go bad. You don't have to worry.
Tips for success using cake goop
Ok so it's super easy to make, super easy to store and makes all your cakes come out like a dream right. You can't really mess it up. EXCEPT if you use too much. I like to apply my cake goop with a pastry brush and do a nice even coat but early on, I got a little crazy with the layers and put a LOT on there. This can actually backfire and cause your cake to stick. So a nice thin layer is all you need.
Some cakes will stick no matter what. You need to know this. Because if the first cake you make with cake goop is strawberry which naturally has a ton of sugar in it and it sticks, you will curse my name and say darn you Liz Marek! You lied to me.
No, it's just the cake. As far as I know strawberry cake, cinnamon sugar and some cakes with high amounts of sugar will stick so it's best to use a parchment circle as well to prevent sticking.
Big cakes sometimes need a little help coming out of the pan. Does that mean your cake goop isn't working? Nope. Sometimes the base of a cake can just stick to the pan from being really warm so putting parchment in the bottom of your pan larger than 12" or sheet cakes can just give you a little peace of mind. I admit though... I never do and haven't had a problem *knocks on wood*
Cake goop is essential for clean releases on bundts like my wine chocolate cake, where every crevice of the pan needs to come out clean.
Gluten-Free Cake Goop
You can make your cake goop gluten-free by replacing the flour with gluten-free flour like bobs red mill 1:1 baking flour.
Recipe
Ingredients
- 7 oz vegetable shortening or margarine
- 7.5 oz vegetable oil (or other oil you like)
- 5 oz all purpose flour
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a mixer and combine until white and homogenous. Store in a covered container at room temperature or you can refrigerate it. Apply a thin coat to your cake pans before baking for a flawless release every time.
Notes
Nutrition
Deborah says
Has your cake GOP ever separated? Made this in February and it is a wonderful idea. Today when I used it i noticed that the oil was sitting on the bottom, but some goop was floating on the top. Not stored in fridge.
Truly enjoying your book on cakes!
Thanks, Deborah
Elizabeth Marek says
Oh yea, that happens all the time. I just stir it back together 🙂
Amy says
Can butter be substituted for shortening as in most recipes? Shortening contains palm oil while butter does not. My family cannot consume palm oil. I normally use butter then coat it in flour but it gets super messy.
The Sugar Geek Show says
Im not sure it would work the same but you might be able to find a vegetable shortening that is free of palm oil that you can use
Jessica R says
Good morning...I’ve used this for the first time and after watching my cakes rise beautifully, they pulled away from the sides before time was up. Now, I did use a lower temp to begin baking and increased it to 335 after about 20min. Do you think that could have caused them to shrink? I love your recipes by the way...all of the ones I’ve used are just to die for.
The Sugar Geek Show says
Most likely your batter was not mixed properly. This happens to me when one of my ingredients like milk or eggs is too cold and it causes my batter to separate. Broken batter will not rise properly and will collapse while baking.
Nuz says
Hi, I tried this recipe and it worked like a charm, however my cakes didn’t rise enough, and the sides shrunk in, I wonder why, do you usually grease the sides of your cake pan as well? I did, could that be a reason?
The Sugar Geek Show says
Yes I grease all sides of the cake pan
Mandy says
Liz - Thank you, thank you, thank you for this recipe! Not only is it saving me a mint in parchment paper and the time to cut it to fit the pans, but the cakes come out with perfect, beautiful sides every single time!
Danyelle C. Overbo says
We don't use vegtable oils anymore (because of that book Deep Nutrition) - if using coconut oil instead of vegtable oil, will that work? And what is a good replacement for shortening?
The Sugar Geek Show says
hmmm I'm not sure. I haven't tested this with any other types of oils and that is two of the three ingredients. Def try it with another oil but I don't know what you would use instead of shortening.
Diane says
Hi Liz, can I use cake goop instead of parchment paper for cookies?
The Sugar Geek Show says
I've never tried that before, let me know if it works out for you 🙂
Mandy Jarvis says
Hi Liz, I'm looking forward to trying this this weekend! I'm curious as to roughly how many average (8" round for example) cakes you can bake using a single 3 cup batch of the 'goop'...? Thank you!
Mandy
The Sugar Geek Show says
hmmm lots. at least 20
Fuschia! says
Hello and thank you for the info. I’m familiar with cake release?”cake goop”- but one answer I am unable to find. Can cake goop be made with any type of flour? Like but flours - whole wheat- tiff- etc? And for any type of oil? Thank you.
The Sugar Geek Show says
I dont see why not 🙂
Frank G says
Thank you for this simple, yet awesome idea. It's so easy to make and brush on the pans with my silicon pastry brush. I also feel better environmentally speaking as not using the aerosol nonstick sprays with their relatively few applications is a thing of my past. Anything I can do to help me reduce my carbon footprint makes me feel better, and doing it while making delicious cakes just makes it even better!
Christine says
I love using your goop but does it have a shelf life? Asking for a friend. ?
The Sugar Geek Show says
Flour, oil and vegetable shortening are all shelf stable so the shelf life is as long as the expiration date on those ingredients.
Dee says
Super excited to start using this, once I finish my can of bakers joy. I do have a question about the recipe though. In the blog it states equal parts flour, oil & shortening, but in the recipe it stares 7 oz. Oil, 7.5 oz shortening & 5 oz flour. So which do I do? Is it just not that big of deal? I like to weigh my ingredients, & I'm a lil OCD, lol. Thanks in advance.
The Sugar Geek Show says
The reason the recipe says that is because one cup of flour is not equal in weight to one cup of oil. It's one cup of each ingredient but each ingredient weighs different amounts if that makes sense.
Crystal Ball says
I've been using this for years and it works wonders. The first time I used it was like 15 years ago when I started doing cake again. Its absolutely amazing. I think I got the recipe from a Toba Garrett book.
Patricia says
I just made the cake goop and used it on the pink champagne cake. I love it and it is like magic.. I won’t use anything else. My question is how long will it last in the pantry in an airtight container?
The Sugar Geek Show says
The product is shelf-stable so as long as you don't contaminate it with any cake crumbs or anything, it won't go bad. Whatever the expartation date on your flour, oil, and shortening is would be the expiration date of the goop in theory.
Becky says
This stuff is MAGIC! So much better than the store bought stuff, way more affordable too!