Why You Should Always Line Cake Pans With Parchment Paper—and the Right Way to Do It

Baking a cake is a satisfying and delicious process, but it does come with a few anxious moments: Will it rise evenly? Is it browned just enough and not too much? Once the cake is baked and cooled, there are still a few stress points, especially the anxiety that comes with flipping a cake out of its pan. The good news is, this can be easily and completely eliminated with the help of just one simple tool: parchment paper. As pastry chefs and other food professionals know, parchment paper is your friend. Learn how they line round, square, and rectangular cake pans—and use this technique every time you bake.

Using Parchment Paper

Parchment is a non-toxic, grease- and moisture-resistant paper specially treated for oven use. It can withstand temperatures up to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Do not confuse it with wax paper, which is not suitable for oven use.

A snug piece of parchment at the bottom of your pan is a must for all baking—not just cakes, but brownies, shortbreads, bars, and so much more. Parchment not only prevents your baked goods from sticking, but with some strategic overhang (particularly in square pans), a sheet of parchment paper can help lift out baked goods that would otherwise be difficult to remove. 

"Parchment is like an insurance policy for the perfect release of your baked goods from the pan," says food stylist and recipe developer Laura Rege, who always uses parchment paper in her baking. "That way, I know my baked good won't break or crack when I try to take it out of the pan."

How to Line a Round Cake Pan

When you're lining a round cake pan, you need to be precise. You don't want folds of extra paper ruining the sides of your round cake. There are two popular methods to make a perfect round of parchment for lining. "Either way, you are going to get a good parchment round, it really depends on personal preference," says Rege. 

Trace a round: Start by setting your pan in the middle of a sheet of parchment, tracing the perimeter of the pan, and cutting out that circle. The end result is a nearly perfect imprint of the diameter of the pan. Make sure your tracing implement, whether that be a pencil, pen, or marker, is food safe: "This is going to touch your food!" Rege cautions. Alternatively, cut completely inside the circle to remove any traces of pen.

Make a cartouche: This simple bit of folding has a fancy French name. A cartouche is a piece of parchment that is folded into quarters, then onto itself in 16 pie pieces before being trimmed at a curve, and unfolded into a perfect round. It's a technique Martha uses often. It's also Rege’s go-to: "I prefer to make a cartouche because it feels a little bit like arts and crafts, and you only have to make one cut. It's just easier for me."

(A cartouche is often used as an alternative to a metal lid for stovetop cooking like braises or sauces where you don’t want a skin to form on the top of the dish.)

How to Line Square and Rectangular Pans

To line a square pan, cut a piece of parchment 2 to 3 inches longer than the base of the pan. Making a strategic snip at each corner helps it fit in with perfect 90-degree angles. Alternatively, you can also cut a piece that fits just the width of the pan snugly, and leaves overhang on two sides, says Rege. "I find you really only need to get the edges of two opposing sides of the pan for a nice release—not all four edges." 

She advises leaving at least 2 inches of excess parchment, which will ensure a substantial amount of parchment for you to use to successfully lift the baked good out of the pan.

Greasing Pans

Don’t skip this step because you lined the pan with parchment. Rege always uses oil or butter in addition to parchment to ensure that everything will come out cleanly. She makes sure to grease the pan before adding parchment (which helps the parchment adhere and hold in place), then greases the parchment surface as well. For best results, Rege sticks to either butter or oil only. "I do not like the method of greasing the pan and then dusting with flour," she says. "Usually you end up with a gooey, floury, weird layer outside of the cake where that grease and flour combine."