I have a lot, I mean A LOT, of bake ware. In fact, there’s not much by way of size and shape I don’t have for baking cakes. I have at least three different brands of metal cake pans and there isn’t a great deal of difference between Wilton and the others. Although the square set I ordered off the net, can’t recall the brand but NOT Wilton, are made of much sturdier metal. You could dent the bottom of Wilton if you wanted to, my “professional grade” 3 inch deep square pans would probably dent you before you dented them.
Wilton products aren’t evil (with the exception of their fondant which is just nasty) nor are they necessarily inferior or superior to other specialty bake ware lines. What they are is widely available. And since Wilton round pans are available at Wal-mart in 6,8 and 10 inch they are easy and economical to get a hold of. So yes, Wilton will do you just fine. Craft stores like Michaels and Hobby Lobby carry a wider range of Wilton products but for the most part that wider range is in the form of their character pans a la Sponge Bob and Spiderman.
I have several Nordicware bunt and decorative loaf pans that I truly like when I do pound cake. I do not care for silicon bake ware at all for cakes, the floppy factor irritates me. I do have silicon cup cake and mini cup cake pans, but I rarely use them for baking cup cakes. I use the minis for tartlets (because I can “bend” them out should something decide to stick) and for candy making. My regular sized silicon cup cake pans are primarily used as a mold for pralines and the occasional corn muffin. The one thing I do recommend silicon for is Angel Food Cake. I have two silicon tube pans just for that purpose. One came from Wal-mart and one is Kitchen-aid brand (a gift, thank you Daddy). As to how they cook, no real noticeable difference but the Kitchen-aid has a more rigid ring around the top and so the irritating floppy factor is lessened.
For the few pies I make, I have glass because that is what was at the store the day I just had to make pie. I prefer tarts to pies and because of that I have several removable bottom tart pans both round and rectangle. I’m not sure of the brands on those, but I prefer the nonstick finish on those because the one I bought without it had a huge tendency to rust (I live in the humid South where anything that can rust will rust).
Hope that helps.  |