cakes :D Ok, well not exactly cupcakes, more like muffins but I can't do a play on words with, "of silicone and muffins". That just sounds weird and awkward.
Over the weekend, as I'm trying to recover from the most annoying and oft times painful back pain due to a spill I took last Monday which probably aggravated my pre-existing back issues (this year seems to be the start of major back discomfort for me), I decided to test out my Starfrit Gourmet Multicolor Silicone Reusable Muffin Liners (ain't that a mouthful).
Since, I anticipated not being able to stand around too long I went for the ready-made variety instead of making the muffins from scratch. I always like the Betty Crocker line and my favourite is definitely the Banana Walnut mix. It's really simple, just add half a cup of water, mix it all up and your batter is ready for the oven. However, since getting into the whole baking thing, I like to try to compensate for the overall ready-made nature by doing the extra stuff suggested on the back of the package. For the Banana Walnut mix, they suggest substituting half cup of milk for water, adding a tablespoon of veggie oil, mixing in one egg and to give it more rise, a tablespoon of flour (I used all-purpose variety). This is supposed to give it a homemade feel.....whatever that means.
After lumping all the ingredients together (adding some chocolate chips as well) and mixing them up, the batter was ready in less than 15 minutes. That's the beauty of these instant variety, it takes the guesswork out of ingredient measurements and saves time. Less a sense of accomplishment with the end result but if it gets me off my feet faster, I'm all for it.
I got 2 packs of the cup cake molds but since my batter would accommodate only 6 cups, I needed only one pack. The mold holds firm on its own and even once batter has been scooped in, it maintains its shape which makes me happy since I hate when the batter makes the paper cups go all wonky once they are in. Plus, no need to use a baking tray. Once I cleaned out the batter, evenly distributing into the 6 molds, I slipped them inside the oven and left them there for about 30 minutes.
I am truly happy with the end result. The muffins didn't stick to the sides, in fact, once cooled, they actually seperate slightly themselves. The molds allow for the muffins to be evenly baked through. I'm really surpised by how well the appearance of the muffins turned out as in my past experience, half of my muffins end up misshapen due to the paper mold or the baking tray not being able to accommodate the rise.
I wished I hadn't been so eager to scarf down the muffins and actually take the time to take a pic of em but well, my enthusiasm ate them all. Not in one go, over the spread of two days, I'm not that much of a glutton.
So, the verdict on the Starfrit Gourmet Silicone Reusable Muffin Liners: two thumbs up and a high five. They're great :D Image is courtesy of Amazon.com.
Over the weekend, as I'm trying to recover from the most annoying and oft times painful back pain due to a spill I took last Monday which probably aggravated my pre-existing back issues (this year seems to be the start of major back discomfort for me), I decided to test out my Starfrit Gourmet Multicolor Silicone Reusable Muffin Liners (ain't that a mouthful).
Since, I anticipated not being able to stand around too long I went for the ready-made variety instead of making the muffins from scratch. I always like the Betty Crocker line and my favourite is definitely the Banana Walnut mix. It's really simple, just add half a cup of water, mix it all up and your batter is ready for the oven. However, since getting into the whole baking thing, I like to try to compensate for the overall ready-made nature by doing the extra stuff suggested on the back of the package. For the Banana Walnut mix, they suggest substituting half cup of milk for water, adding a tablespoon of veggie oil, mixing in one egg and to give it more rise, a tablespoon of flour (I used all-purpose variety). This is supposed to give it a homemade feel.....whatever that means.
After lumping all the ingredients together (adding some chocolate chips as well) and mixing them up, the batter was ready in less than 15 minutes. That's the beauty of these instant variety, it takes the guesswork out of ingredient measurements and saves time. Less a sense of accomplishment with the end result but if it gets me off my feet faster, I'm all for it.
I got 2 packs of the cup cake molds but since my batter would accommodate only 6 cups, I needed only one pack. The mold holds firm on its own and even once batter has been scooped in, it maintains its shape which makes me happy since I hate when the batter makes the paper cups go all wonky once they are in. Plus, no need to use a baking tray. Once I cleaned out the batter, evenly distributing into the 6 molds, I slipped them inside the oven and left them there for about 30 minutes.
I am truly happy with the end result. The muffins didn't stick to the sides, in fact, once cooled, they actually seperate slightly themselves. The molds allow for the muffins to be evenly baked through. I'm really surpised by how well the appearance of the muffins turned out as in my past experience, half of my muffins end up misshapen due to the paper mold or the baking tray not being able to accommodate the rise.
I wished I hadn't been so eager to scarf down the muffins and actually take the time to take a pic of em but well, my enthusiasm ate them all. Not in one go, over the spread of two days, I'm not that much of a glutton.
So, the verdict on the Starfrit Gourmet Silicone Reusable Muffin Liners: two thumbs up and a high five. They're great :D Image is courtesy of Amazon.com.
