Since the ceramic creates a natural, non-stick surface, the oil or butter is just an additional barrier between the ingredients and the pan. This serves as an extra precaution to prevent sticking.
Ceramic is similar to glass. It takes a while to heat up, and it can lengthen your cooking time.
Coating a greased cake pan with a thin dusting of flour creates a barrier between the grease and the cake batter, which prevents the grease from melting and disappearing into the batter as the cake bakes, allowing it to do its job in the end, after the cake is baked.
Since ceramic isn't a great heat conductor, heat is slower to transfer to the batter in ceramic than in metal, which can leave the center underbaked, resulting in a sunken cake that has concaved and shrunk. Adding time can cause an over-browning in the edges which isn't ideal for cakes.
The ceramic dish should be oiled or sprayed with cooking spray, and then it should be lightly dusted with flour, just like you would any other cake pan. If you line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper before adding the cake batter, removing the baked cake won't be as difficult.
Metal, whether it be copper, stainless steel, cast iron, or aluminum, is also better for recipes requiring very high heat. Glass or ceramic dishes can shatter if subjected to some serious heat in the oven, or when placed under the broiler, but metal can tolerate these high temperatures.
If you are looking for a flour substitution for greasing a cake pan, you have a couple of options: Use a nonstick cooking spray such as Pam. (We love the nonstick sprays with flour in them!) This no grease technique is neat and tidy.
Vegetable oil or shortening is your best bet at ensuring your baked goods don't stick to the pan; however, they do little to flavor your recipe. If you use butter, the key is to use it sparingly, preferably along with a nonstick pan.
If you were making an angel food cake or a chiffon cake, you may not want to grease the pan at all. By not greasing the pan, the light batter will rise higher because it has something to grab on to.
Using a sharp metal utensil or those made of too rough materials on your pure ceramic cookware can cause the nonstick ceramic coating on them to wear off quicker than expected. While metal and stainless steel utensils are sturdy, they can easily scratch through your pan's nonstick surface.
Most types of ceramic will be suitable for oven use at reasonable temperatures (around 200C/400F), as pottery is fired to much higher temperatures during production.
In addition, ceramic bakeware evenly distributes heat, ensuring that food is cooked evenly. As a result, ceramic bakeware is often the best choice for cooking delicate items such as fish or custards. Finally, ceramic bakeware is easy to clean and is often dishwasher-safe.
Ceramic cookware should be washed after every use to remove food particles that can easily stick to your pan and cause a sticky build-up. Periodically examine the cookware surface for brown discoloration, and do a deep cleaning to remove stains.
The biggest cause of a pan losing its non-stick coating is using sharp or metal utensils with it. Small scratches can form on the ceramic when you do this. Over time, these scratches become larger, and the coating is affected.
Stick to low or medium heat when cooking, which will help keep the oven-cured coating intact—using high heat will wear out the nonstick properties of the coating faster. What's more, the coating conducts and distributes heat so well that you really won't need to use any higher heat.
The verdict: Use butter if you want to. If you have extreme concerns about your cake sticking, use shortening (which is pure fat with no water), cooking spray, or baking spray. Coconut oil or bacon fat will also work, as will clarified butter which has the milk solids removed.
Why does oil give cake superior texture? Butter is 18% water, so when the batter is baked, some of its liquid evaporates. Replacing the water from the butter with oil means there's more fat left in the cakes to ensure tenderness.
Take your baking pan and grease it with your oil of choice. You can use either a non-stick spray or olive oil spray, or butter/coconut oil. I prefer a spray because it's easier to get into the nooks and crannies without making a huge mess scooping out a chunk of coconut oil or butter and trying to spread it around.
DON'T GREASE your pan!
Use a 10-inch fluted aluminum tube pan (also known as an angel food cake pan) and pour that batter right into it – no greasing required! Greasing the pan would prevent the cake from rising up in the oven as the batter would have nothing to cling onto as it bakes.
Lastly, if you're using an intricate cake mold with a lot of nooks and crannies, our experts advise using a nonstick spray with flour already in it or spraying the pan then lightly dusting it with flour to ensure a proper release.
For a clean release, grease, flour—and parchment—are key. It may sound like overkill, but the most effective way to ensure that a cake releases cleanly from a baking pan is to grease the pan, line it with parchment paper, and then grease and flour the parchment and pan sides.
As you can see in the photo, the slower transfer of heat to the batter means cakes baked in glass (or ceramic) will take longer to cook than those in metal (5 to 8 minutes longer, according to a test with yellow cake done by Cook's Illustrated).
Ceramic cookware is becoming increasingly popular among professional chefs as it is a non-reactive material that is easy to clean. Ceramic cookware is also oven-safe and can be used for a variety of cooking methods.
Ceramic is Non-Reactive
A pan or pot that doesn't have this coating can pose an issue. The chemicals on the pan can leak into the food and alter its color and taste. However, the non-reactive coating on ceramic helps keep the taste and quality of cooked and baked food.