Fancy Bundt Cake Pan

I am getting a pan in the shape of a castle for my birthday this year, by which I mean I already got it even though it's not officially my birthday (observed) yet.

It looks so cool!

Unfortunately, I am afraid to use it. I once had a waffle iron. After using it, I had real trouble getting it clean. I scrubbed. I let it soak and scrubbed again. Many, many times. Then I was afraid to use it again, even though I learned that you're supposed to coat it with butter or oil first even though it's teflon, so I just gave it away.

Just look at all those nooks and crannies. That is not going to be fun to clean.

The instructions say to "brush" the entire inside "with solid vegetable shortening and dust with flour or cocoa" before adding the batter or dough. Even though the interior is supposedly nonstick.

Robin wants to make aspic in it. I'm not afraid of that being hard to clean out--I just don't want to eat it.

Monkey bread, where each piece is dipped in butter, doesn't sound that scary either, except for the fact that it's yeast bread and that's not really what I want to make.

So, I'm doing some additional research.

Georgia Pellegrini, using a similar pan, has these hints:
* She oils and flours the pan.
* She says to "give the mold a few taps against the counter to get out any air bubbles."
* Also to "take a spatula and pull the batter up on the sides so that it is a bit higher than the center ... since the center rises faster than the edges."
* She dusts the finished cake with powdered sugar, which emphasizes the shape nicely.

The following tips come from Grandma Bonnie's Closet:
1. Wash your pan thoroughly with warm soapy water and dry well.
2. Coat your pan with a baking spray. The baking spray should contain flour in it. Very Important! Use a pastry brush to evenly distribute the spray into every crevice. Make sure there are no globs of flour or pools of oil in the pan.
3. Fill the pan about 3/4. Roll the pan from side to side to coat the walls of the pan above the batter line. This helps the cake to rise up evenly on the sides.
4. Tap the pan on a table or counter to release any air bubbles.
5. Allow the cake to cool for 10 minutes after baking. No shorter or longer than 10 minutes.
6. Pick up the pan with hot pads. Gently shake the cake sided to side. Use a plastic spatula to release any cake sticking along the edges.
7. Invert the pan on a cooling rack or plate. Allow to finish cooling.

One reviewer on Amazon says this "bakes up just like any other bundt cake, so long as you get each nook and cranny of the pan interior with flour-added cooking spray. (It's right there on the grocer's shelf next to the regular spray.) If you do that one simple step, I guarantee that this cake will release from the pan perfectly every time!"

Another says, "Follow the directions for flouring and cooling. If you don't, you'll be using a toothpick to clean those details. Otherwise, the cakes lifts out perfectly. I use Bak-klene spray available at Williams-Sonoma, where I purchased the pan. Then I flour the pan."

Another says, "I tried using Bakers Joy and the cake still stuck. The next time I used Bakers Joy, added flour and baked the cake a bit longer and it came out perfectly. Don't be afraid to let your cake get well done in this pan- it helped rather than hindered."

Another says, "Just make sure to spray the thing really well with Pam before you bake. I use a baby bottle brush to speed clean up of the pan when I'm done."

Another says, "I spray the nooks and crannies heavily with cooking spray (any kind works fine, not just the flour version) and the cake comes right out." Hmm, opposing advice.

Another says, "I let the finished cake cool for about 10 minutes before flipping the pan over on a wire rack, then I let it cool the rest of the way in the pan (overnight, usually) and give it a slight shake to release. I've been told I should release it after the first 10 minutes, but then I'm afraid the cake will go stale or get wrecked if I try to cover it before it's completely cooled off. It seems to work fine for me to leave it in the pan until completely cooled.

"My only complaint is that I had a hard time locating some information about how much to fill it (2/3 to 3/4 seems to be the best)."

Some cleaning tips:

One reviewer says, "Cute idea If you are bored and have nothing to do ....and have an extra 45 minutes to clean a cake pan with a Q-tip to get every crevice clean then you should buy this cake pan. This is not dishwasher safe."

Here's a thorough one: "First cake did not come out easily. Learned to wait until just ready to pour into mold to spray with flour cooking spray. No problems with cake removal since. This bundt pan is a little hard to clean after use but well worth the extra few minutes. If you boil some water and pour it into the mold and add a squirt of a degreaser dishwashing soap, wait a few minutes, you should have no problem swishing with a wash cloth to get it clean."

Another says, "The pan is a pain in the butt to clean. I recommend a SOFT toothbrush."

This may or may not be smaller than a normal bundt cake pan, so I may have to use less batter.

I'm also realizing that transporting it may be problematic.

I'm not sure I feel better yet. I'll just have to work through my fears and experiment.