Scored this beauty of a pan this week at the Goodwill bins.

I remember these spendy pans being sold at Williams-Sonoma (I used to write recipes and copy for them many years ago but still pop in to their stores from time to time in to check out new arrivals and drool). I always thought they were charming but couldn’t justify the price as I had no need for something called a Charlotte Mold.

A Charlotte is a sponge cake or cookie-lined cake in which layers of fruit or custard also play a role, and are either served cold (making it like a trifle) or warm (as in Apple Charlotte). They can be baked or unbaked. Some say it originated in Britain, others in France. Who knows? All I know is I bake all the time, and I even have a daughter named Charlotte so you’d think I would have come around to baking one, but no. And no immediate desire to do so, hence I can’t justify buying a new pan just because it is Valentine’s week and it’s cute as a button.

That doesn’t stop me, however, from enjoying a cute tin-lined steel pan when it crosses my thrifty path. Now I can’t imagine coming home from the market and not having this little French-made cutie to corral my room temperature produce.

Charlotte molds — not just for dessert anymore.

Approximate cost @.89 per pound = .97 cents