Oh my. I may have just leapt forward in my fruitcake output skillz.
My mother's recipe demands that you oil a loaf pan, cut and fold a paper bag into a topless liner for the pan, and then oil the paper. It specifically says "non-stick alone will not work." So, like the woman who cuts the roast in half to fit into her grandmother's oven, I dutifully cut paper bags, over and over.
This year, after a few tries, I decided to give parchment paper a shot. Lo and behold, it worked just as well. Hooray! Emboldened by a few parchment paper successes, I tried oiling a newish nonstick loaf pan and using that... and, sure enough, the loaf popped right out. *pop!*
Hooray hooray hooray! No more cutting paper bags, the worst part of making fruitcakes! I feel so springy.