I am really lazy about buttering pans and lining things with parchment and generally prepping for baking. Sometimes I just don't bother; I bake cakes in springform pans and I just cut them free rather than actually buttering the sides and cutting out parchment circles for the bottoms.
The other day I was baking some financiers in little tins that definitely need to be buttered properly or the cakes will get stuck and you will end up ripping them apart trying to pry them free. I was going to melt the butter to coat the pans and brush it on, but that just seemed like a bunch of extra steps and dishes to wash (lazy). So I tried just brushing softened butter onto the pans with a fairly stiff pastry brush. It was quick and easy and it got into little nooks and corners. I was really impressed with myself for thinking of this. A quick look online showed me that lots other people discovered this before I did. I am perhaps not quite the avant-garde tin-buttering innovator I briefly imagined myself to be. I am still excited about how easy and effective is was and I think it will lead me to butter pans properly more often. You should try it! If you want to.
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