Bake your cakes with care and you'll always start with a perfect decorating surface—that way your decorating will really shine! What is the perfect cake for decorating? Smooth, golden brown surface, very few crumbs and a nice, springy crust. Here's the easy way to get it right:
Start with a good, quality pan, properly prepared for baking.
1. Preheat oven to the temperature specified in your recipe.
2. Prepare the pan. You can either use solid vegetable shortening and flour, Wilton Cake Release, or Wilton Bake Easy™ Non-Stick Spray. Never use butter, margarine or liquid vegetable oil–they'll make your cake stick and possibly burn the surface. Apply shortening or Cake Release inside the pan with a pastry brush or paper towels. Spread so that all indentations are covered. When using shortening, you'll need to sprinkle about 2 Tablespoons of flour inside the pan and shake so that flour covers all greased surfaces. Turn the pan upside down and tap lightly to remove excess flour. If any shiny spots remain, touch them up. If you're using Cake Release, all you do is apply it inside the pan–no need to add flour.
3. Bake the cake. When baking in Wilton pans, use the recommended batter amounts and the specific baking instructions provided with the pan. Pour cake batter in pan, spread evenly with a spatula and tap the pan on your counter top to remove air bubbles. Bake on the middle rack of a preheated oven for the time specified in the recipe. To test whether cake is done, insert a toothpick or cake tester near center and remove. If tip is clean, cake is done. If batter is visible, bake a little longer until toothpick or tester comes out clean. When done, remove your cake from the oven and cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes.
4. Unmold the cake. Place a cooling rack against the cake and turn both cooling rack and pan over. Lift pan off carefully; cool at least one hour. Brush off any loose crumbs before icing.