The Cake Pan Revolutionizes the Art of Baking

Love to bake? Why not buy a great cake pan from vital wares?

A detailed account of the versatility of the cake pan, its ability to accentuate the pleasures of baking, the various styles that are available and key factors the aid in making an informed choice when investing in one.

What are the different types of the cake pan?

There are several varieties of bake pans that can be used for baking cakes and it is critical that you use pans that are suitable to the recipe, occasion and time required to bake the cake. The following are the most popularly used bake pans, each with its specific usage.

Springform pans: This pan comes in 2 pieces that come together to form the pan and can be detached. This facilitates even heating and the easy removal of the baked cake. This kind of cake pan is perfect for cheesecakes, molding mousse cakes and layered cakes. This pan is typically non stick and made of shining tin but there are newer kinds of spring form pans that come with a colorful exterior finish. One of the most important things to look for when buying a spring form pan is that the metal which is usually coated with steel should resist sticking and should be easy to clean. It is also important that the pan does not collapse under the weight of the batter. Look for great looking pans at vital wares.
Angel food pans: This is a kind of tube shaped pan which has a detachable side and cone and is devoid of a bottom. These are used only for angel food cakes. The pan requires no greasing prior to baking. Angle food cakes need to be in close contact to the sides of the pan. After they are baked you need to cool them upside down. You then have to carefully run a knife between the cake and the sides of the pan to dislodge the cake without damaging its shape. Angel food pans are available at vital wares.
Ring pans:These are usually made in plain aluminum. Some of these pans come with have a central opening and some are without the opening. Some are non stick and others are not. They are suitable for most kind of cakes and need to be oiled before you pour in the cake batter.
Bundt pans: Introduced in the market in the 1950's, this pan is extremely popular. The versatile Bundt cake pan is usually made of aluminum, cast iron or silicone and comes in various sizes and shapes. You can use it to bake muffins, cupcakes, cakes, gelled deserts and meatloaf. Bundt cake pans are available with or without a non stick coating at vital wares. These also need to be greased before you can bake in them. Cakes baked in these pans cook evenly both inside and out, are very attractive, have different shapes and are relatively easy to garnish.
Regular pans: These are the standard circular, square and rectangular pans. They are usually made of aluminum or tin and come with/without a non stick coating. Round pans are great for layered cakes and come in various sizes. The square and the rectangular pans produce slightly uneven cakes where the centre portion is thicker and more mounted than the sides.
Uniquely shaped pans: There is a great demand for bake pans in innovative shapes and designs especially for kids birthdays parties, special occasions and festivals like weddings, baby showers, anniversaries, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter and Valentine's day. There are pans shaped like children's favorite cartoon characters as seen on TV and in books. There are pans that enable you to bake sports based cakes. Heart shaped cakes are of course an all time favorite for baking Valentine day cakes or cakes for any other romantic occasion. Christmas cake pans come in the shape of the fir tree, star, Santa, the Christmas stocking and more. Easter cake pans let you create cakes in the shapes of the Easter bunny or the Easter egg. There are bake pans to make each of these occasions a little more special at vital wares.
Muffin pans: These are special pans used for baking muffins. These are usually made of aluminum or cast iron and have a non stick coating.
Cup cake pans: Yummy cupcakes can be made in cupcake pans or molds that consist of interconnected cups which are lined with foil or wax paper for easy removal of cupcakes. Cupcake pans are similar to muffin pans though they have smaller cups. When you buy a cup cake pan make sure you buy the shiniest one available. These produce more evenly baked cup cakes.
Loaf pans: Loaf pans are ideal for baking loaf shaped cakes and loaf bread. These typically come with an aluminum body and a non stick inner surface.

How to select the right kind of cake pan for your baking needs?

Choosing the right kind of cake pan is the first important step when you set out to bake a cake. They say a good cake pan makes a good baker. Choosing the right one would take some effort as there are scores of them available in the market and knowing which one's right for you isn't easy. However knowing a few basics could make this challenging task a lot easier.

Material: Cake pans are usually made of enameled metal, metal or glass. Though some people use it, glass is not really the best material for cake baking. It is more appropriate for other baked dishes. These days silicone cake pans are becoming very popular. The advantage of silicone pans is that they can be used to bake at very high temperatures, allow even cooking and the cake can be unmolded without any sort of fuss. Silicone pans even allow bakers to freeze or chill cakes while still in the pan as silicone tolerates extreme cold conditions as well as it tolerates heat. Even when it comes to cleaning, silicone pans score very well. They can be easily put in the dishwasher and do not attract grease and dirt like normal metallic cake pans. Silicone though a bit expensive than the normal metallic or glass pans is the best baking pan material available in the market for the modern day baker.
Shape: Shape is important for the occasion for which you are planning to bake the cake. If it is a routine everyday baking that you are looking at, regular round, square and rectangular shaped pans would do. But if you need to bake cakes for special occasions like birthdays and festivals, cake pans in shapes like animals, triangles, hearts, diamonds and other geometric shapes would be ideal for you. Novelty pans may not be useful as the regular ones but to make an occasion special and to see a smile on the faces of your loved one, it's worth the investment. These also make the creation of exclusive cakes a lot easier.
Size: Choosing the right sized cake pan is also very important. If you do a lot of baking it makes sense to have pans in different sizes which allows you greater flexibility. It also allows you to get really creative and make layered cakes or tiered cakes. When buying a certain sized pan for regular use, you need to consider the number of family members that the cake will be baked for. When buying a pan for a special occasion, you need to account for the number of guests you are going to have over. Baking a small cake in a large pan is as bad an idea as baking a big cake in a small pan. The right size is very important for the perfectly baked cake.
Frequency of baking: When buying bake pans, consider the type of baking you do and how often you do it. If you do not bake too often, a small collection of two or three shapes and sizes would be appropriate. You could also buy a few doubles of medium sized pans for layered cakes. If you bake regularly or want to do so, you will need a wide range of cake pans in various shapes and sizes for your kitchen.
Usage instructions: When buying pans for your home, keep in mind that there are special usage guidelines for certain type of pans. Some pans are only designed for cold cooking like souffles and some cream desserts and not for baking. Never try to use these for baking otherwise you will end up not just ruining the cake but the pan as well. Skilled bakers will tell you that the best cakes are the ones that not just taste good but look great too. The Cake pan contributes in a big way in the creation of a perfect cake by giving it the desired form, shape and texture.

Can I use the cake pan for baking things other than cakes?

Once you take stock of the collection of cake pans at vital wares, you will be motivated to try out new cakes through baking pans. It gets increasingly simpler for you to bake as you can now choose appropriate shape pans, rather than baking just rounds and rectangles and then making shapes out of these. Gone are the days when you had to struggle, plan and make elaborate arrangements to bake that perfect shape for your children, your loved ones, your family and friends. More often than not, one would probably give up and buy a cake, just to be on the safer side.

When you host a dinner at home or have to contribute to a potluck, you want your menu to be different from the regular fare being served by everyone else. The pans available at vital wares are very versatile and are extremely well suited to all popular global cuisines. The heavy duty aluminized steel construction will ensure even cooking of your signature dish. Our pans are the preferred choice of culinary professional because of their classic features and versatility and of amateurs because of the ease of use. Here are a few suggestions on how you can exploit the functionality of the cake pan.

Use the Calphalon square or rectangle pan to make flavored bread for starters. Make the bread dough as per instructions and line the pan with the dough. Add flavors like garlic and cheese, olives, sun dried tomatoes, raisins and walnuts etc.
Use the round pie baking pans to make pie stuffed with squash, mince meat or ragout. Since this is a shallow pan, you can even bake quiche or pizza style bread with different toppings in it. Ideal for a kid's treat.
The classic round or rectangle baking pans can be used to make finger food. For example, pan fry chicken wings or chicken lollipops (Chinese version) till brown on both sides. Grease the pan with some vegetable shortening and place all the wings in a single layer. Pour some diluted soya sauce with honey or some diluted barbeque sauce on the chicken and bake till done.
In a bundt pan, place some herbs and garlic or cheese and ham and then place some bread dough. You will get an attractive bundt shaped bread.
Grease a pie pan, place a collection of cubed vegetables and sausage bites, sprinkle some seasoning and dabs of butter and bake for a few minutes. Delicious oven grilled vegetables are ready.
Place some boiled pasta in a rectangle or square pan, top with the sauce of your choice and a mix of cheddar and mozzarella cheese. Pasta al forno (pasta from the oven) for you and your guests.
Mix together some boiled pasta, boiled or grilled meat bits and some vegetable with some white sauce and sprinkle with cheese. Bake till the top is crisp.
Bake an upside down pineapple cake or a dry fruit filled bundt cake using our Nordic ware classic bundt cake pan. These cakes just need a dusting of confectionary sugar.
Bake or steam creme caramel in a classic round baking pans or better still in a Nordic ware Bundt pan and turn it upside down to serve.
Make a bread-butter pudding in the bundt cake pan, turn it upside down and top with honey or glaze. You can fill the space in between with fruit preserve.
You can use a cake pan for an assembled dessert too. Crumble some cake into the bottom of the pan; add a layer of mixed chopped fruits, top with some thick vanilla custard. You can use any shape cake pan. Remember to pack the layers tightly so the shape will come out easily. Set some jelly in a flat dish and turn this pudding over onto the jelly.
The classic round shape spring form pan by Calphalon is ideal for cheesecakes as you can retain the bottom of the pan for your dessert and the sides can come off.

How should I use and care for my cake pan?

It's very important to treat your cake pan well so they serve you well and last longer. It's as easy as looking after your non-stick cookware. At vital wares, our products are made of aluminized steel and coated with the best non-stick cover. The heavy sides ensure that the cake cooks uniformly and without the fear of under or over cooking. Exactly because of this feature your cake will not burn and stick to the sides. The shapes are retained better and the flavor and texture are enhanced. You can go ahead and bake the sticky cake recipes without a second thought.

Our cake pans will perform best under the following care:

Before the first use, clean your pan with warm soapy water and a nylon cleaning pad.
Always wash before and after every use, inside and outside.
Do not expose a hot pan to water. It will warp the shape and affect the non-stick cover.
Do not use any metal instruments in the pan. Once the cake is done, remove from the pan and then slice.
Use vegetable shortening to grease cake pans for easy removal of shapes.
Our cake pans are dishwasher safe, but it might be a good idea to hand wash.
Do not soak the pans in water for long. Water collects in between the non-stick layers, thus ruining the quality.
Avoid stacking the cake pans one inside the other. Use protective layers in between pans. If the surface gets scratched unduly, the cake will not cook evenly and you might have difficulty in removing it from the pan.
Since all pans are different, we urge you to follow the progress of your first few bakes and adjust baking temperature and time accordingly.

How do I bake the perfect cake using a cake pan?

The ideal gift to warm someone's heart is to bake them a cake in a bundt pan. Cakes are great for almost all occasions, and sometimes they need no occasion. It's very easy to go out and buy a cake from the vast variety available. However, when you take out time and energy to bake, you give a whole new meaning to the cake. Even beginners will get confident in their baking once you choose from vital wares range of easy to use non stick cake pans, which come in a wide range of shapes and sizes. Your baking skills will get enhanced with the right material at your disposal.

The Fun Pans

Home baking need not be plain and simple anymore. Gone are the days of looking into the bakery window and longing for those beautiful but expensive cakes in different shapes and sizes. The shapes and designs of cakes that you get at the bakery are easily done at home through bundt pans. All you need is the right recipe and the willingness to take the plunge. Our vast range of cake pans make home baking fun and attractive. These pans are a great buy if you're trying to churn out professional looking cakes for family and friends. They will win people's heart and make you the reference point in gatherings.

Make the shape

You can use the classic Calphalon round and square shapes to make the most extravagant designs. In these shapes, the decorations you use will decide the look of the cake, so you can let your imagination run wild. Almost all wedding cakes, for example, use the round shape as the base of the design. You can decorate these shapes with different characters, or cut and shape them as you please, or better yet-just frost it with a complementing flavor. For example, if you baked a chocolate cake, use a vanilla frosting and if it's a vanilla cake that you baked, use a strawberry crush frost.

The bundt cake pans, which have been trademarked by Nordic Ware, are available in different variants. These German ring shaped coffee cakes can now be easily baked in your very own kitchen through bundt pans. The bundt cakes slide out from these specially designed pans without a problem and can be served plain or with frosting. The thought of making shapes earlier could put you off because they never came out right. Either the cakes would burn from one side and remain undone from the other, or they would stick to the bundt pan along the design cut and ruin your baking. When it's for someone special, look no further- we at vital wares have for you the elegant heart bundt pan or the rose bundt pan.

The special feature about these shaped bundt pan is that the cakes slide out perfectly. The cake keepers and carriers are a great idea to carry the cakes around. They ensure that your cake remains fresh as just baked. Also it becomes easier to carry the cake in its shape rather than chopping your beautiful design and stacking it into boxes. The classic Calphalon Spring Form pan helps you let the cake stand on the base and the spring works the sides of the pan away. Whether it's a friend's birthday, a promotion ,a dinner potluck or a guest dropping by, the pans will probably inspire you to head into the kitchen and bake away.

Cake pan in the oven

While making shaped cakes, always remember to grease the pan with shortening, not butter. Pans lined with butter will not release the shapes easily. It's important to preheat the oven before you pop in the cake. Previously one had to insert a toothpick or a knife to check if the cake is ready. We have at vital wares the Bundt Baking Thermometer, which tells you in 5 seconds whether the cake is ready or not. Just stick it in the cake and when the tip turns red in color, your cake is ready to pop out. While our superior quality pans will provide even heating, it's a good idea to place the pan right in the centre of the oven. Always protect your hands with baking mitts, which are also part of our collection. So, go ahead and unleash the baker in you!

Insist on Quality

What you need to get started on this project is good quality bake ware. Whether you're an amateur or a professional, when you get down to the cake pan, the end result speaks volumes about your baking as well as the products used. When you see that perfectly browned cake or a crispy bake, it's a treat to the eyes. Also the recipe will taste as close to the original when the cake is cooked evenly without anything sticking to the cake pan. We carry a whole range of high quality cake pans of various shapes and sizes. In that sense your job gets a bit tough because you're spoiled for choice! Choose a shape for the occasion and go ahead and bake the gooiest of recipes that you've been waiting to try. Any recipe will retain shape because of the high quality non-stick coating used in our pans.

Bake it Right

The very thought of sinfully rich cakes conjures up unhealthy images for most of us. When the cakes are intended for children, it's not so bad. But when you have to bake for health conscious adults, you need to do a rethink on the ingredients you use. You might turn out professional looking cakes, but be disappointed to learn that people won't touch it because of their calorific value! It's very simple though, to add or reduce certain ingredients and make our bakes healthier for the whole family.

Here are a few suggestions:

Reduce the sugar in your cakes or cakes pan by an easy 20% . The small amount that you reduce will not significantly affect the taste, but will be healthy in the long run.
If you are going to frost your cake or pour chocolate sauce over it anyway, then reduce the sugar in the cake by as much as 50%.
Add raisins, walnuts or any nuts of your choice to the classic bundt cakes and give yourself the benefit of these wonder foods.
Add blueberries, strawberries, lemon zest, pineapple bits, orange juice and zest, banana etc to enhance taste as well as food value. Since all the above have their own sweetness, go ahead and reduce the sugar.
When you add the above, you can complement the cake by the same flavor frost or glaze.
When you add chocolate chips or dates or any ingredient which has sugar, avoid the glaze and frost. Just dust 1 teaspoon confectionary sugar on the cake.
If you feel that the sugar is very less, serve the cake with honey or fruit preserve which is as close to natural sugar as possible.
If the cake is meant for adults, replace butter with margarine or vegetable oil.
Before pouring the mix into the pan, line the pan with vegetable shortening. Avoid butter and cut down on calories. Also the cake will come out more smoothly from the cakes pan.

On what occasions can I use my cake pan?

Once you start baking regularly using these baking pans, you will be able to do much more with them. Since the shapes are so eye-catching, it's easier to feed the fussiest child around and please difficult people too. The quality of baking that you will experience is world class and will occupy pride of place on your dinner table. Our cake pans will stand the test of time and will help you host many enjoyable meals. The shapes that you can turn out using these cake pans will make an amateur feel like a professional and will make a culinary expert feel proud of a job well done.

When you are expecting guests or approaching kids' holidays, you might want to catch up on your baking and churn out occasion-specific shapes of cake. Our cake pans come in many different shapes and it could be a great idea to let a child select a shape for say, her soccer buddies' party or an outdoor picnic or as a gift for a friend. You can probably get her to help with the baking and make this time a productive, yet fun time with your child. The look on her face when you tell everyone that she baked a cake will be priceless.

Birthdays

Kids always come up with weird requests for cake shapes like Round pans, Square Pans, Star Pans and many more. Some shapes leave you confused and would have taken a lot of time and energy to make. Well, we have quite a few of these shapes covered. The range has designed for your kids the Locomotive, the Dinosaur paw, the Pirate ship, the Butterfly, the Backyard bugs, the igloo, to name a few. These cakes are guaranteed to please the kids and add a personal touch to the party. The detailing in the pans is of superior quality so that the shape forms flawlessly. Kids will love the shapes and your cakes will be a delight to the eyes.

Anniversary

A gift for someone you love? Anniversaries are always a time to show your loved one how much they mean to you. What better way to express your feelings than just the right cake? You will surely find expression of your love in one of our cake pan shapes like Round pans, Square Pans, Star Pans and many more. Choose from the Heart bundt pan, the Fleur De Lis pan, the Rose pan. The very royal looking Kugelhopf cake is so simple to make at home. Just get the Kugelhopf cake pan and make the famous German/ Austrian cake right at home. Our non stick pans make your job cleaner and define the cake shape better. The bundt cakes especially look really good when the shape doesn't spoil while taking it out of the pan. The touch of professionalism is guaranteed when you use one of these pans.

Holidays

The fun times start when its Holiday season. It could be a Sports Day, Christmas, Summer Holidays or a visit to a friend or relative. We are geared to match every occasion. Choose from Holiday Wreath pan, or Star of David, or the Holiday Treeshapes, Round pans, Square Pans, Star Pans and many more. If you want to treat family and friends to a traditional meal, it can be accompanied with a castle or a cathedral shaped cake, courtesy the Castle and Cathedral shaped cake pans. If it's a sports lover you are catering to, be sure to check out our Stadium pan.

You could also use a Calphalon Rectangle pan, Round pans, Square Pans, Star Pans and use green frosting to make it look like stadium grass. The classic Round pans, Square Pans, Star Pans and many more by Calphalon can be iced to look like a ball. The All Stars pan is bound to be a super hit with sports lovers everywhere. With this pan, you get 6 individual ball-shaped cakes with perfect detailing. These cake pans are non-stick and the cake will easily leave the pan. Due to even heating the shape does not get spoiled due to over or under cooking.

Picnics and Potlucks

When you're out in the open or enjoying a meal with friends and family, the best dessert that you can carry is a cake. It can be made in advance, it's easy to carry, non messy and can be eaten at room temperature. Your cake can easily become the focal point where food is concerned. Our cake pans come in a range of shapes to capture the hearts of food-lovers. The shapes are the perfect accompaniment for your buffets and add a touch of class to your picnic or table. Our Cake keepers and carriers are ideal just for these occasions. They help you carry the cake with ease and help to retain the freshness even if you have baked in advance.

You can also bake smaller, individual cakes and muffins for a group of people. The Quartet pan, the Cakelet pan, Round pans, Square Pans, Star Pans and the Cupcake pans are just the answer for your party baking. They can be individually wrapped or frosted with initials for smaller kids. The Calphalon Spring form pan is ideal for use when you know you need to carry your cake. It's easy to remove the cake from this type of cake pan as the base is removable. Just transfer the base with the cake on it, into the carrier or into the cake keeper and you are good to go!