The Sweet Trick To Keep Cakes From Sticking To The Serving Plate

No matter the celebration, a cake can make the festivities extra special. Baking one from scratch can be all the more impressive, especially when decorated with frosting, sprinkles, and other fun garnishes. What's not impressive, however, is when the cake sticks to the serving plate, ruining your chances of cutting neat slices. Though it might seem like an inevitable fate for freshly-baked cakes, there's an easy trick that'll solve the sticky situation.

Say what you may, but serving cake isn't as straightforward as it may seem. More than just running a knife into a torte, proper temperature and the right tools can make cutting a cake a breeze. While most puddings can be stored at room temperature (unless they include cream or custard), Style Sweet explains that refrigerated cakes should rest at room temperature for about half an hour before serving. They should also be sliced with a chef's knife or a serrated knife if cakes are filled. That said, some desserts require extra TLC.

Dense cakes such as fruitcake, pound cake, carrot cake, and fudge cake tend to have a high moisture content, which can cause increased stickiness. Wilton recommends rinsing the serving knife in warm water between slices to prevent tearing up the torte. But what about a cake that is so sticky that it seems to be glued to the bottom of your serving plate?

Before baking a cake, most recipes require some sort of barrier between the pan and the batter. Whether it's a nonstick spray, a sheet of parchment, or good old-fashioned grease and flour, this helps prevent the baked treat from clinging to the pan. But if you've ever left a dense cake on a serving platter, you're well aware that it also requires a buffer.

According to CDKitchen, the most effective way to prevent a cake from sticking to a serving plate is to use an edible ingredient: Confectioners' sugar. Made by pulverizing granulated sugar, the superfine sugar has a flour-like texture without having a flour-like taste. This makes it the ideal choice to prevent adhesion. Simply dust the bottom of a serving dish with the wispy sugar before adding a completely-cooled cake on top — it's a foolproof hack that many home bakers swear by, as noted by Help Me Bake.

Despite the fact that confectioners' sugar works to stop the cake from sticking to serving plates, King Arthur Baking stresses that using powdered sugar to coat a pan pre-bake will have the opposite effect. However, don't write off sugar just yet. Grease and granulated sugar work to coat a pan excellently, providing a crunchy coating without caramelizing or causing adhesion.