Dr. McDougall's Online Discussion Board

serene wrote:

Mom+Me wrote:

serene wrote:I bake a lot and my strategy is good nonstick bakeware, parchment when possible, and letting baked goods cool before trying to remove them from the pan.

Thank you, serene! Yes, I agree with you about all three things/tips you mentioned! My potential problem is wanting to use fancy shmancy pans that have all sorts of nooks and crannies: https://www.amazon.com/Nordic-Ware-Plat ... 174&sr=8-3 and https://www.amazon.com/Nordic-Ware-Fore ... 179&sr=8-2.

Yeah, that's why "when possible." In something that intricate, I would either wait until it completely cooled, or make a practice one and see if it was doable.

Recently, I made The Starch Solution's pumpkin muffins. I put parchment liners in half the tins and left the other half alone. The ones without the liners came out great when they were cool, and the texture of the crust was better.

Yes, I'd love to try one of those pans and it does say that it comes with their "free returns" policy, but I think they mean only non-used items. So, if it doesn't work, I'd be stuck with a beautiful looking pan, but wouldn't use it. I think you're right, it would have to be completely cooled to come out and maybe, just maybe if it were then frozen, as VeganDisciple mentioned, it could release completely? It sure would be an interesting experiment! Now if only we had enough room in our freezer!

Thank you for sharing about your muffin experiment--interesting! Yum--the crust sounds amazing (w/o the liner)! They'll taste good without the nuts, too.

Interestingly, I just got a Nordic Ware nutcracker cake pan for Christmas. I will take it upon myself to make something and report back on how it goes.

serene wrote:Frozen stuff tends to be very difficult to remove from the pan (the water in it expands when frozen), so I wouldn't recommend that.

Ah, yes, that makes sense! Thank you, serene! By the way, I really like your quote in your "signature" area.

Lyndzie wrote:Interestingly, I just got a Nordic Ware nutcracker cake pan for Christmas. I will take it upon myself to make something and report back on how it goes.

Awesome! Thank you, Lyndzie! Hopefully all will work out well sans Baker's Joy.

serene wrote:

Mom+Me wrote:

serene wrote:Frozen stuff tends to be very difficult to remove from the pan (the water in it expands when frozen), so I wouldn't recommend that.

Ah, yes, that makes sense! Thank you, serene! By the way, I really like your quote in your "signature" area.

Thank you! I saw it on Sparkpeople and it has really helped.

I'm usually reading everything pretty fast because of lack of time and data usage, so the first probably 10 times I saw it, I kind of went, "huh?!". But when I actually took 30 seconds to read and ponder it, I thought, "Oh!!" and "That's a good one!!". Thank you for sharing!

Lyndzie wrote:Interestingly, I just got a Nordic Ware nutcracker cake pan for Christmas. I will take it upon myself to make something and report back on how it goes.

I hate to bother you, but I was just wondering if you got to use your pan yet? I still wouldn't mind getting that tree bundt pan to make banana bread. I don't mean to make you feel like a guinea pig or anything. Thank you.

What recipe were you thinking? I have some ripe bananas I could use up.

Lyndzie wrote:What recipe were you thinking? I have some ripe bananas I could use up.

Aww...thank you, Lyndzie!

I was planning on just making my own like I usually do--no recipe, just throw together. So I just did a quick search and found this one http://www.lovefoodeat.com/healthy-bana ... ugar-free/ . The sesame seeds could be omitted. The other ingredients are pretty common (I hope).

Only make this or any other recipe for anything if you have time and want to, though; thank you! And like serene mentioned, letting it cool completely should really help in it releasing. Good luck!

So I tried them out! I used Mary (or Heather?) McDougall’s banana bread recipe. It was just the right amount of batter for the 6-cup Nutcracker pan. I did not oil the pan. I mixed chocolate chunks in half of the batter.

How the pan did: the recommended baking time on the instructions was 20-25 min at 350°F, but it took a full 30 min for the banana bread recipe. I had read that people had trouble (even with a greased pan) of getting the cakes out in one piece, and I had a similar experience. The feet stayed in the pan but everything else popped out just fine. I let it cool for about 30 min, then used my hands to loosen it around the edges. I think if I had let it get room temperature, it would have been too stiff to unmold successfully. Let it cool enough to comfortably handle, then turn out.

The pans are very detailed, and banana bread was not the best recipe to show that off. I would recommend a solid colored cake (Banana bread is speckled), maybe pumpkin? Also, the batter is quite thick, so something a bit thinner like a cake batter would probably perform better with an intricate pan.

If you end up getting the pan, let us know how it works for you!

Thank you so much for making the cake and giving such a detailed report, Lyndzie; I really appreciate it! Hope you and your family are enjoying the cake/bread.

Were you able to get the feet out so that the nutcracker was able to kind of be assembled, if that had been important?

That makes sense about not letting it sit too long...also about the speckled nature of the cake not really showing definition.

I'll definitely let you know if I purchase that bundt pan and how it turns out.

Thank you, again!!

I have successfully used my non-stick Nordic Ware bundt pan and bundt cupcake/muffin pan with oil free cake and muffin recipes and without cooking spray or anything else. Just be sure not to underbake your product, and to let it cool a bit before turning it out of the pan. Also, it helps to gently release by using a blunt table knife to release the product around the edges of the pan.

I also have silicon pans and another high end muffin tin that I don't know the name of that I bought at an estate sale. Using cooking sprays can damage the non-stick surfaces of some of these pans. Don't do it.

Cleaning can be a chore on the really intricate designs. Soak them, then use a stiff brush to clean. You may have to repeat a few times.

Happy baking.