# How do I get this flippin upside down cake to flip out of the pan?



## pengyou (Apr 16, 2011)

I made a pineapple upside down cake and it wouldn't come out of the pan.  To make this one I melted the butter and just mixed the brown sugar into the melted butter.  Is that a no-no?


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## Selkie (Apr 16, 2011)

Float the pan in very warm water, softening the glaze, then turn upside down and rap it firmly on the serving plate (without breaking the plate!)

If it makes you feel any better, on yesterday's show, Paula Deen has problems getting her upside down Pineapple cake out of her pan also.


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## letscook (Apr 16, 2011)

i always put parchment paper in the bottom of my cake pans for ease for flipping, 
i have never done a pinapple upside down cakecake, as others in the house don't like pinneapple,  would you get the same results in the cake doing that?


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## pengyou (Apr 16, 2011)

Parchment paper..but then you have to peel the parchment paper off of the goo....


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## Silversage (Apr 16, 2011)

If you let it cool, the caramel in the bottom sets up and you can't get it out.  You have to turn it out while it's still pretty warm.

Put the pan over a stove burner for a few minutes to melt the caramel.  THen it should flip right out.


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## Selkie (Apr 16, 2011)

Using the stove top burner, if you do it too long or get distracted, you could burn the sugar and ruin your topping. That's why hot water is much safer. Short cuts aren't always the way to go.


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## taxlady (Apr 16, 2011)

Selkie said:


> Using the stove top burner, if you do it too long or get distracted, you could burn the sugar and ruin your topping. That's why hot water is much safer. Short cuts aren't always the way to go.



That's what I was thinking.

I use Pyrex baking pans, so that could be disastrous.


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## LAJ (Apr 16, 2011)

parchment paper


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## Andy M. (Apr 16, 2011)

pengyou said:


> I made a pineapple upside down cake and it wouldn't come out of the pan.  To make this one I melted the butter and just mixed the brown sugar into the melted butter.  Is that a no-no?




That's not a "no no".  

For this cake, you have to get the cake bottom hot enough to soften the sugar mixture.  Then invert it right away onto a cake platter and leave it all together for a few minutes so any sauce can run off from the pan onto the cake.  Then you should be able to lift off the cake pan.

In the future, transfer the cake to the serving plate as soon as it comes out of the oven.

You shouldn't need parchment but it wouldn't hurt.


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## Aunt Bea (Apr 16, 2011)

I always make extra whipped cream just in case I have this problem!


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## Andy M. (Apr 16, 2011)

Aunt Bea said:


> I always make extra whipped cream just in case I have this problem!




Good thinking!


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## CraigC (Apr 16, 2011)

Flip it over on to the plate and use a hand held torch to heat the pan.

Craig


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## pengyou (Apr 16, 2011)

CraigC said:


> Flip it over on to the plate and use a hand held torch to heat the pan.
> 
> Craig



Now that is really a bright idea


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## Andy M. (Apr 16, 2011)

CraigC said:


> Flip it over on to the plate and use a hand held torch to heat the pan.
> 
> Craig




That may cause the cake to split and have the top half drop onto the serving plate and the pineapple half stay stuck to the pan.


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## CraigC (Apr 16, 2011)

Andy M. said:


> That may cause the cake to split and have the top half drop onto the serving plate and the pineapple half stay stuck to the pan.


 
Maybe if you don't have the common sense to move the torch around.

Craig


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## Selkie (Apr 16, 2011)

CraigC said:


> Maybe if you don't have the common sense to move the torch around.
> 
> Craig



I think you need even heating to prevent it from breaking apart, which you can't get from a torch. Besides, as Taxlady said, a torch or direct flame shouldn't be used on Pyrex!

My experience has been that unless you let it set too long, this isn't a major problem that keeps cropping up while making this kind of cake.


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## Selkie (Apr 16, 2011)

And not everyone has a torch as common equipment in their kitchen arsenal. I do, however, have a friend with a cutting torch... does that count? 

I hope you're a good sport, CraigC!


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## CraigC (Apr 16, 2011)

Selkie said:


> I think you need even heating to prevent it from breaking apart, which you can't get from a torch. Besides, as Taxlady said, a torch or direct flame shouldn't be used on Pyrex!
> 
> My experience has been that unless you let it set too long, this isn't a major problem that keeps cropping up while making this kind of cake.



Even heating isn't usually a problem for someone that heats metals for welding. Besides, the OP never mentioned a heating issue. Whatever!

Craig


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## sparrowgrass (Apr 16, 2011)

I must have missed the part where Pengyou said the pan was pyrex.  

A torch would work fine on a metal pan, so would setting it on the burner--as long as you were careful.  If I tried using a pan of hot water, I would undoubtedly slosh water into the cake. 

You could also stick it back into the hot oven, if the cake hadn't cooled too much.


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## Andy M. (Apr 16, 2011)

CraigC said:


> Maybe if you don't have the common sense to move the torch around.
> 
> Craig



The point I was trying to make as that the cake would break when inverted.  BEFORE you had the opportunity to soften the sugar.


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## pengyou (Apr 18, 2011)

Yes...a torch has some serious limitations...Maybe I should take it to the nuclear power plant in Japan.....  I tried it again and discovered that I have to ignore the directions in the recipe and just flip it out as soon as I pull it out of the oven.  I lose a little bit of the brown sugar that way but it seems to be the part that has lumps in it...next step is to get ride of the lumps...anyone got a jack hammer?


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