how to make a parchment paper round!
No more stuck cakes ever – here’s how to make a parchment paper round for your cake pans!
This is one of my favorite baking tips, so grab your scissors and let’s learn how to make a parchment paper round for perfectly turned-out cakes!
proper lining of your baking pans is KEY – here’s why!
If you’ve ever turned out a cake – only to have a chunk of it remain in the pan – you know that particular brand of heartache. But the good news is that this is TOTALLY preventable, with proper prep of the pan before baking.
I’ve written about just how to prepare a baking pan in this post, and one of the keys is to place a piece of parchment paper at the bottom of the pan. While you could, theoretically, just grease and flour, I love that extra bit of insurance that the parchment paper bottom provides.
I’ve been doing this for the almost 40 years that I’ve been baking and haven’t had a “stuck cake” since!
why you should always put a piece of parchment paper at the bottom of your pan!
Typically, a recipe that calls for a baking pan will go something like this:
“allow to cool in the pan on a wire rack for…………minutes, then run a thin knife or spatula around the edges and invert the cake onto the rack to cool completely”.
So you’ll notice that – even if you grease and flour – you still need to carefully loosen the sides for a clean release. Easy enough to do, but how do you loosen the bottom?
That’s where the parchment comes in. Parchment paper is treated with silicone, making it non-stick. This guarantees that when you invert your pan onto the wire rack the cake will come out intact.
parchment paper is NOT wax paper!
While I have rolls of both parchment and wax paper, there are instances where you do not want to use wax paper. In addition to being non-stick, parchment paper can withstand much higher temperatures than wax paper. As the name implies, wax paper is coated with paraffin, which will melt beyond a certain temp, so never ever use it in the oven or microwave!
you “could” buy parchment paper rounds…………..
If you bake a lot of round cakes you might want to invest in a package of pre cut parchment rounds. But it is truly so easy to make a parchment paper circle, and you can customize so that it fits any size cake pans you own!
I’ve shared a video, below, that shows you how to do it, but here are some step by step pictures to walk you through the process:
To start, tear a sheet of parchment paper that is slightly larger than the pan. Fold it in half, from bottom to top.
Fold in half again, this time from right to left.
Now fold the top right corner down to meet the bottom left corner.
Fold the top edge down to meet the bottom.
Turn your baking pan upside down and place the folded “point” into the center.
Make a cut just inside the edge of the pan; continue cutting in a slight curve.
Open the paper up – you should have a circle that fits perfectly in the bottom of your pan.
Easy, right?
So pull out all of your cake recipes, because whether you’re making a layer cake, a one-bowl cake or an ice cream cake, that little parchment circle will ensure that it is as beautiful as it is delicious!
How to Make a Parchment Round!
Ingredients
- 1 piece parchment paper
- 1 pair scissors
Instructions
- Tear a sheet of parchment paper that is slightly larger than the pan.
- Fold the paper in half, from bottom to top.
- Fold the paper in half again, this time from right to left.
- Fold the top right corner down to meet the bottom left corner.
- Fold the top edge down to meet the bottom.
- Turn your baking pan upside down and place the folded "point" into the center.
- Make a cut just inside the edge of the pan; continue cutting in a slight curve.
- Open the paper up - you should have a circle that fits perfectly in the bottom of your pan.
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7 Comments
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Hi! I'm Sheri!
Welcome to my little corner of the web where you’ll find easy, delicious recipes, the best kitchen hacks and simple tips for turning your home into a clean haven that is free of toxins. So glad you’re here!
I always learn something new!!
I find that hard to believe but thank you! xoxo
Thank you so much for this! I have struggled for years trying to do this by tracing around my cake pan. It never works right. So I started buying pre-cut circles, however now I can stop that and use your method! Appreciate you!
Oh this makes my day! The pre-cut circles are great but I don’t feel like investing in every size I need!:)
I totally agree!
Thanks for the pleasant memories, it never ceased to amaze me how my mother’s folded paper always came out perfect circles when she used this method back in the ’60s.
As for the concern about wax paper catching fire, before parchment paper became so easy to obtain wax paper was really the only option. As long as it is complete covered with wet cake batter there is no chance of it burning, unless your cake ignites first. You do run the risk of trace amounts of wax melting off onto your cake, but I don’t know if that is really worse than the trace amounts of silicone that you might get from parchment paper.
Wax paper under cookie dough is another matter. The uncovered sections could conceivably smolder or burn. This might set off your smoke alarm and it would almost certainly spoil the cookies.
Absolutely! I had a great aunt who would use the wrappers from butter to line her pans and I shudder to think about that now! 🙂