Chocolate Brownie Bowls

Asked by Disappointed. Answered on 8th February 2011

Full question

I am so disappointed. I bought 2 non stick 6 cavity desert shell tins and made the recipe but they have stuck even though I followed the recipe EXACTLY. Please help, I now have 2 useless tins and no prepared ahead pudding. Should I try freezing the remained stuck bowls and try to unmould when they are frozen? I can't tell you how unbelievably disappointed I am. They taste good but I just can't unmould them successfully. How does Nigella do it?

Our answer

Unfortunately we have not experienced this problem with the pans but there could be a couple of causes. The pans do need greasing, even if they are a non-stick type. We have tested this recipe using both butter and also a US baking spray and the brownie cups released without problems. It may be worth greasing the cups with melted butter and using a pastry brush to make sure that the butter gets right into the bottom edge of the cups. You could also dust the inside of the buttered cups with a little extra cocoa powder (use a small sieve or a tea strainer to dust the cocoa) to help the cooked cakes to release. US baking sprays (such as Pam for Baking or Baker's Joy) work very well and Wilton do a cake release product and a baking spray which can be found in the UK via the links below.

The cakes may also not quite be baked through which will also cause them to break up when you are trying to get them from the tin. The baking time is "about 12 minutes" but some ovens are slightly slower and they may need an extra minute or two. The tops of the cakes should feel firm and slightly bouncy when the cakes are cooked. A useful tip also is to let the cakes cool slightly in the tin then put a wire cooling rack over the top of the tin. Flip the tin over (so the rack is on the bottom) and gently lift the tin up, leaving the cups on the rack. If the cups are not releasing fully then you can use the tip of a knife to help to ease them out of the cups.

http://www.janeasher.com/sugardetail.php?product=1952WN&cat=Edibles%20-%20General&subcat=Tin%20Release%20Greasers

http://www.janeasher.com/sugardetail.php?product=1951WN&cat=Edibles%20-%20General&subcat=Tin%20Release%20Greasers