I have a favorite baking pan – one that I bought ages ago in a bakery supply house. I recently took a cake to a party in it and my brother-in-law asked, “Who brought the cake in the cool “old school” pan?. I didn’t realize that “old school” could be applied to bakeware but I guess I was wrong.

I do indeed love this pan – it never lets me down. It bakes evenly with no hot spots. It cleans up beautifully. And while it does have some age spots (discolorations really), it is not one bit rusty and the finish is not wearing off in spots like so many of my cookie sheets. It is thick without being heavy. It never lets me down. I do love it!

And when I recently had to pitch a nasty non-stick muffin pan because it had rusty spots all over it, I dug through my baking cabinet only to find a nice little aluminum muffin pan hiding in there. I think I picked this one up at an auction actually. I made muffins in it last week and that muffin pan performed just like “old school” cake pan. Even baking, easy to clean, looked like new after it dried. So that got me to thinking about the content of the baking pans I like to use.

I have never been a fan of non-stick pans but they are all over the place! It really is hard to buy a pan that is not non-stick. Not my favorite because I cook A LOT and I tend to wear that finish off in no time. And I really HATE the airbake pans. That’s an article all in itself! So, I have recently decided that I will buy no more of those pans or cookie sheets. My favorite metal of choice when it comes to baking is aluminum.

In baking a cake, go for aluminum. You won’t be sorry! You will be rewarded with a cake that bakes evenly throughout, is easy to clean, and lasts forever. Be sure to check out the aluminum Wilton wedding cake pans (which can be used for any cake by the way) I have featured in the right side of the blog!