How To Make Gluten Free Cake Release

Gluten free baker? Need to easily get your baked goods out of the pan? Look no further than this gluten free cake release. It’s cheap, it’s easy to make and your cakes come out of the pan every single time.

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In the last several years, I have had multiple people in my life become diagnosed with gluten sensitivity all the way to celiac disease. So, I’ve had to get used to doing a bit of gluten free baking. Because in my world, the way that I show you I love you is to bake for you and I really try not to make people sick when I do it.

One of my all time favorite baking hacks is cake release spray with flour in it. It would release my cakes (or brownies or whatever) flawlessly every time I used it. However, it’s not gluten free. And it was the only cooking spray I owned. Enter making my own cake release or cake goop. I’d never bothered before because it’s honestly easy enough to just buy it, but gluten free times call for gluten free measures.

What is cake goop?

Cake release or cake goop is a mixture of flour, vegetable oil, and shortening that you can spread onto your baking pans before you put the batter in to help release your baked good from the pan after it’s done baking. I use it particularly with cake pans because I almost always want to turn them out of the pan. Why not just use oil or shortening? Why do we need the whole mixture? Because the flour is the ingredient that really helps release the cake. If you’ve ever gone to turn your cake out of the pan and a big ‘ole chunk sticks to the bottom of the pan, you know the rage. Because I’m old, the way I learned to do it was by greasing and flouring my pan. That still works, don’t get me wrong, but this cake goop is so much easier.

What makes this cake release gluten free?

The star of the show here is measure for measure gluten free flour. Specifically I tested this recipe with King Arthur’s flour. I can get it in a big bag at Costco.

How do we put it on the pan?

I like to spread my on with a silicone pastry brush. But if you don’t have one, a paper towel will do the trick. You just want to make sure you get cake goop into the nooks and crannies of your cake pan.

Do you refrigerate cake goop?

It’s not necessary, all the ingredients are shelf stable.

How long does homemade cake release last?

It should last for at least 6 months in the cupboard. If you haven’t used it in awhile, give it the ole’ sniff test. If it smells a little funky, toss it and make new.

What can I use instead of shortening?

Some people are not a fan of shortening. Totally fine. I don’t use it too much myself. I do use it in this recipe because it’s shelf stable, a solid at room temperature, doesn’t burn, flavorless and is reasonably inexpensive.

That said, if you still aren’t interested, you could use coconut oil instead in equal proportions. Coconut oil has a pretty low melting point so if your house is unseasonably warm sometimes, you may have a runnier cake goop.