Place a cake pan on a sheet of parchment paper and draw a circle around it. Cut out the circle to make a round of parchment paper.
Thoroughly brush the cake pan with room-temperature butter and press the parchment paper into the panβthe butter holds the parchment paper in place.
Brush the parchment paper with butter. Put flour in the pan and rotate the pan until it is thoroughly coated. Invert the pan and tap it to shake off any excess flour.
An offset spatula is an ideal tool for smoothing the top of the cake batter.