I'm sure you've prepared a few cake pans in your life. I've prepared hundreds. I don't think I've tipped over 1000 but I'm sure my mother did during her years of making wedding cakes.
No matter what, you always start by greasing up your cake pan. I tend toward cooking spray while my mother prefers Crisco on a paper towel manually wiped on. I'm lazier than she is. Youths. Gah. We also tend to cup a piece of parchment paper to fit in the bottom of the pan to double up the protection from the cake sticking.
Most people would then coat the pan with flour. I was one of those people for years. Guess what? I'm fully converted to the sugar prepped pan.
I haven't used flour on a cake pan for months. I never loved it. Sometimes you end up with a dusty looking cake, or a clump of flour in the corner and it just frustrates me. But not so with sugar!
The sugar melts into the grease, but doesn't stick. It tastes better than flour, and I've never had a cake stick in the slightest. I LOVE this method. I even stopped putting parchment paper liners in the pan. No need!
I've tried this method on cakes of all shapes and sizes over the last few months and I'm convinced it's one of the best baking tips out there. It works for everything from cupcakes to bundt cakes! I love it!
I hope you love it too!