Homemade Cake Release

Name: Homemade Cake Release
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Ingredients: 1 cup unflavoured vegetable oil (I use canola, but any is fine); 1 cup butter (shortening works too); 1 cup flour (regular all purpose)

Cakes by MK
September 18, 2022

Jump to Recipe Jump to Video

This homemade cake release (also known as cake goop) makes prepping your cake tins so much quicker and easier! A definite must have if you bake a lot of cakes 🙂

What is cake release made out of?

Cake release is basically equal parts flour, oil and butter (or shortening). What most people do is either use baking paper to line their cake tins, or grease and flour them. With cake release, if you prepare a batch beforehand and keep it handy in a container, you’ve got an easy 1 step method to greasing your cake tins ready to go!

Best of all, it’s super reliable and your cakes come out perfect every time. The last thing you want is a broken cake after struggling to get it out of the cake pan!

How do you use it?

It’s really simple. All you have to do is prepare your cake release, and then using a pastry brush, coat the inside of your pan until it’s well covered. That’s it!

How do you store it?

I usually use butter when making mine, so like to store it in the fridge so it lasts longer. Whenever I need to use it, I simply heat it up for about 10-20 seconds in the microwave and it’s good to go!

If you make yours with shortening, you can pop it into an airtight container in a cool dry place.

Homemade Cake Release

5 from 31 votes

Print Pin Video

A quick and easy recipe that allows you to efficiently grease your cake tins so your cakes come out perfect every time!

Prep: 5

Total: 5

Servings: cups

Author: Cakes by MK

IMPORTANT: For accuracy, I would recommend using the gram measurements provided, as those are the exact quantities I use. Cup measurements are given as estimates (based on US cup measurements) to make it easier for those who do not have a scale.

Ingredients

▢ 1 cup (250 ml) unflavoured vegetable oil - I use canola, but any is fine
▢ 1 cup (240 g) butter - shortening works too
▢ 1 cup (120 g) flour - regular all purpose

Instructions

Combine all the ingredients into a bowl and mix together with a hand mixer or stand mixer on a medium speed until the mixture is smooth.
Using a pastry/basting brush, generously coat your cake pan with the cake release.
Place the leftover cake release in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for future use (see note 1).

Video

Notes

Note 1. If you've used shortening, then it will be okay to keep your cake release in an air tight container at room temp in a cool dry spot. If using butter, I would recommend refrigerating the cake release so it lasts longer. When you need to use it, either warm up the whole mixture for 10-15 seconds in your microwave until spreadable, or spoon out a small amount and warm that up for a few seconds in the microwave to then use on your cake pan/s.

Note 2. 3 cups of cake release will coat a lot of pans, so if you're only wanting a small amount simply reduce the quantity. This recipe is an easy 1:1:1 ratio of vegetable oil, fat (butter or shortening) and flour. As a quick guide, a tablespoon of each will be enough to cover an 8 inch cake tin.

Nutrition

Nutritional information are estimates only as they are automatically calculated by a third party application. Actual values may differ based on brands and types of products used.

Keyword: cake release, cake tin prep

Tried this recipe?I love hearing from you! Tag me @cakesbymk.nz on instagram so I can see your amazing creations 🙂

More Recipes

Cakes Single Layer Cakes

66 Comments

Jasson
26/02/2026

Very nice recipe chef 👍👌👏. Thank you for your effort 🌞😎

Rating

Reply
lisa
24/07/2025

Hi there!
Your cake release recipe is a game changer. I just baked a cake in the most intricate bundt tin and it came out beautifully!! Thank you. And.. thank you for your videos that are so joyful and fun.

Lisa

Rating

Reply
- Cakes by MK
  10/03/2026
  
  Aww yay! So glad it worked well Lisa, bundt cakes can always be a little tricky! 🙂
  
  Rating
  
  Reply