Sunday, January 10, 2010

Baking Pans that Worked

My mom used what I call standard baking pans for her butter pound cakes. I only saw her use three types of pans. These long loaf pans the round cake pans and round layer pans.

She used loaf pans to get those perfectly sliced cake slices. The round pans were used for baking whole cakes and selling them as wholes or half’s. I remember she use to use the round pans that where two part, the whole center piece lifted out. Time proved to bring a few changes once more because; she eventually started using only the one piece round cake pans. I think the other style would leak sometimes. Lastly she used the round layer pans for making huge slices with various types of fillings in them. Those slices were sometimes 3 layers high.

I never saw her use Teflon pans and not being a baker myself I would think that Teflon non stick pans would be perfect for baking any cake. Apparently not, because for all the years my mom baked those delicious cakes, she used Crisco lard and sprinkled flour around the pan for coating. Many years later she started using Pam baking spray. What a change that was.

My mom was very consistent with what she baked and how she did it. It was amazing to see after many years being raised around her baking, she seldom deviated from what she said worked for her. She would listen to your ideas but when it came down to it she always stuck with what worked for her.

Her baking pans are as much a sentimental keepsake as her mixers. When you look at her baking pans you see her creating her masterpiece of love, her gift to the world in her kitchen every week.