As I have mentioned in the past, I don't really care for silicone bakeware. While it allows cakes and other baked goods to cook evenly, it doesn't produce any of the browning or caramelisation at the edges that I love to see. That being said, I do own several silicone cake pans, collected after trying to give them the benefit of the doubt. . I would give them away to a friend or someone who might actually get some use out of the nearly-new pans, but they seem to have become sticky to the point of unusability - and I have no idea why, nor does there seem to be much information about the issue online. Have any of you readers had the same problem? The pans are all dishwasher safe and the instructions say that they cab be soaked in warm, soapy water to clean them, as well. If I'm the only one, then clearly my pans are even worse than I originally thought. If I'm not, then I definitely recommend sticking with more traditional, easier to clean bakeware.

It is a relatively simple matter to grease and flour a cake pan. Jus spray it with cooking spray (rub with butter), sprinkle some flour on top, turning the pan to coat it evenly, and you're ready to go. Lining a cake pan with parchment paper can pose a problem for some, especially if you try to draw a circle out on the paper and ever-so-carefully cut around it because it is easy to screw up, not to mention that it is tedious work. Fortunately, there is a simple way to get a piece of paper to fit exactly inside of the circular pan. It's as easy as following the photos above and will take no longer than reading this post:

1. Take a piece of parchment paper larger than your pan and fold it into quarters. Fold that piece in half, then in half again until it is quite slim.
2. Place the point of the paper in the center of the upside down pan.
3. Use scissors to cut a straight line just inside the outer edge of the pan.
4. Unfold and place in pan, if necessary, fold back up and trim a corner to make it fit better.

It is not clear what the people at Berndes, a German cookware company, were thinking when they designed this pan. It is clear, however, that they did not agonize over the name, calling it simply the Fat Bug Cake Pan. This is not the usual shape you expect to find in a cake pan. You expect roses, hearts and maybe even a butterfly. You definitely do not expect to see a cast aluminum larvae mold. I give them full credit for originality, and the pan is no doubt of high quality, but I still can't see spending $25 to buy a pan shaped like, to put it generously, a "fat bug."