Bill—going back to original recipe / original pan sounds like a good idea. That will let you test if it’s something about the oven. Let us know how it turns out!

I am SO GLAD to have found this thread!  I thought I was the only one whose cakes kept falling out of the pan.  Like many of you, I’ve bought different pans - the one I am now using is aluminum with feet and still, not much success.  I don’t rely on the feet, but invert over a thin necked, but short, wine bottle.  I thought my problem was related to not beating the whites long enough or poor folding technique, but perhaps, it’s neither.  I’ve tried so many different recipes for chocolate angel food cake and the cakes never rise to full height and usually fall out of the pan after 10 minutes.  My family loves these cakes because they taste great, but I would never serve them for company because they look puny and smooshed.  I bake in the lower 3rd of the oven at 350 degrees for 35-38 minutes.  The cakes stick to the pan when I take them from the oven, but not for long once inverted.  Maybe I’ll try Rose’s method of putting some batter on the sides of the pan first.  Maybe that will help. I do the “S” swirl with a thin bladed knife before I put it in to bake.  I have a cake cooling as I type, but my expectations for staying in the pan are low. 

I’ll check back from time to time to see if anyone here has found the answer to this problem.  Oh yes, I’m in New England, low humidity today, kitchen not drafty.

Thanks for any advice!!

CAKELUVR:
  Good afternoon to you. As far as I know there are two reasons for this baking problem to occur. There maybe other causes that I am not aware of.
However, if you post the recipe along with the directions & how you did the whites & pan prepartions…. perhaps I can be of help to you & or some other member(s) can contribute their knowledge that may help you. Till then, good luck to you from Las Vegas,NV. & enjoy the rest of the day my friend.

  ~FRESHKID.

Thank you Freshkid for your quick reply!

I got lucky yesterday.  For the first time in I don’t know how many moons, my cake did not fall out of the pan.  I checked it after 15 minutes from inversion and voila, it was holding steady over my wine bottle.  Continued to stay in the pan until the cake was completely cool.  Maybe I did a better job beating the whites and folding.  Pan was spotless, no grease, a regular 10 x 4 aluminum angel cake pan, baked cake in lower third of oven for 38 minutes at 350 degrees.  I’ll try to do whatever it is I did this time, the next time I make an angel food cake.  The cake rose 3 inches - not the 4 I had hoped for - but this was a chocolate angel cake with 1 1/2 cups egg whites and grated chocolate.  Perhaps, had I used more whites, I would have gotten a higher cake.  Still, it stayed put for cooling, had no trouble removing it from pan, and tastes great.  I’m thankful for this success.  Have a great day in Nevada.  I woke up to very icy steps and driveway.  No fun.  Just put a chocolate drizzle on cake.  THAT was FUN!

CAKELUVR:
Good morning. Good!!!, I am happy to learn your cake came out just when you expected to. Remember if that was a abberation
come back with the information…I know we can help you.

  ~FRESHKID.

Thanks again.  Will do!

I’ve had success and failure with cakes falling out…today I made the Chocolate Angel Food from TCB… I baked it for 40 min and an internal temperature of about 203F.  Humidity is about 70% outside and 55% indoors.  I actually fumbled the pan while putting on the bottle (my bottle has liquid in it—it’s still in use) so I figured I had “lost” the cake.  Surprisingly, it has stayed in the pan (now about 30 mins after baking…) and so far so good.  I will throw out another theory…perhaps by baking to 203F more water has evaporated from the cake…perhaps being underdone can cause additional weight/moisture in the cake to aid in falling.  Also, maybe it cooks on to the side of the pan better?  My pan is silver on the outside but has a black coating inside.  It also has horizontal ribs on it.  It is terrible to clean…perhaps this helps the cake stay inside?

Sherrie, thanks for reporting your results, I’m going to try your internal temp (200+) and dark pan for my next chiffon!

Julie - 03 August 2012 08:19 PM

Sherrie, thanks for reporting your results, I’m going to try your internal temp (200+) and dark pan for my next chiffon!

All I can say is it is JUST A THEORY!! I hope it works