NOT bowls, YES Cakes!
Written: May 15 '06 (Updated May 15 '06)
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Pros: Fun, Fun, Fun! Something different.
Cons: Not strong enough, not stick proof.
The Bottom Line: These are fun and something different. You can have a good time with a birthday party. Use them like you do cupcake tins and I'm sure you will enjoy.
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| maglib's Full Review: Reynolds Fun Shapes Baking Cups and Cake Pans |
I got these fun little Reynold's tin baking cups a few weeks ago. I received hearts and stars. Reynolds also makes egg shapes, christmas tree, and bunny shapes (I'm sure as the seasons change they will have more ideas out there). There are 24 baking cups in each package. The ones I received are about 4"x4"x1" each. They are meant to be disposable after use. They sell for approximately $2/package.
My kids were so excited to try them when they saw them that we decided we would have a day of all our foods made in these baking cups. So let's prepare.
For breakfast, we decided to have personalized omelets. Sounds simple, right? Well like always when you use something you think is simple, you mess up. There are 2 things we learned from this mess. First do NOT fill these cups more than 1/2 full (they can't support the weight and the reason is not related to expansion of the cooked product). Second they need to be sprayed with non-stick spray (package says place ungreased baking cups on a cookie sheet but when you go to the website you will see it suggests spraying them for different meals)! Okay so we throw out our first batches and start again. Yum, this time they came out pretty good, just make sure you watch that oven as at only 1/2 full they cooked pretty quickly. We cooked ours at 350 degrees for about 10-15 minutes in a preheated oven. We can't blame Reynolds for the spilled mess as it says directly on the package not to fill them more than half way. You need to be extremely careful not to spill these as the cups are a bit flimsy. Make sure you put the tin on a cookie tray that will fit in your refrigerator or oven for the needed support.
For Lunch. Now we couldn't think of anything so we decided to go to the website http://reynoldsfunshapes.com . There are some good ideas, but most involve cupcakes. Some ideas are ridiculous like using them as bowls for snacks and dips. The cups are NOT strong enough to be used as a bowl for any dip or to be carried with any weighty substance. There were also way too many cake suggestions and it was tough finding meal ideas (it centered around themes and holidays). I would have liked to see a search ability here so I could search on lunch or sandwiches, etc. We did decide that jello jigglers would be fun. We followed the recipe and it worked and really nobody can mess up Jello, can they (caution, the cups are flimsy so move tray with extreme caution)? We couldn't find anything too exciting that my kids would eat other than pizza (for dinner) nor could we think of something simple so we made grilled cheese and used our cookie cutters to make heart and star shapes (at least Reynolds got us the idea of the stars and hearts and I was not going to make home made bread in these, it's supposed to be fun, not work).
Last is dinner and dessert. We made the individual pizzas as suggested on their website. Issue with this was getting the pizza dough to fit into the cups well enough without bending the sides. It was a bit tough for my young boys (8 and 10), but they succeeded enough to look presentable. The crust was too thick for their tastes and didn't spread as I thought it would into the shape completely. For dessert we did make traditional cupcakes and yes that is what we found these baking cups were the best for. It was tough to ice the cupcakes and some did fall apart when you tried to remove them from their cups (especially the stars, all those points), but they tasted great!
So we had a blast. Made some messes, enjoyed being together as a family. Were they worth it though? That's the important question. In my estimation Yes, if used in accordance with their directions and only for cupcakes, Jello Jigglers, or something light and simple. No they should not be used as bowls. Cookie Cutters can do many of the suggested items (even cutting a sheet cake to the shapes, but there will be more waste). You can probably make your own tin cups using your own molds (for $2 using Reynold' brand was much simpler). For a party, these would be great. Try them and I'm sure you can have some fun with them. It's something different and kids love doing things with their parents! At $2/box, they are so much more fun than traditional cupcake liners. Go ahead and get them and have a fun filled heart day next week or do red,white and blue stars for Memorial Day or the Fourth of July.............
My suggestion to Reynolds is to make the website user friendly, allowing more searches. Eliminating things these cups really are not designed for (ex. holding sauces). They also should think of making the cups a bit stronger and making them more stick proof (especially the stars, as everything got stuck, breaking the points). Changing the packaging baking directions as they are not true for all baking items (Specifically #1 says to "place ungreased baking cups on a cookie sheet" while you do need to grease them for many of the ideas. Put more stress on the fact that you should NOT fill them more than half way).
I would like to thank Hass MS&L for supplying these cups in turn for my honest review on the product. Boy did we have fun!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 2
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Epinions.com ID:
maglib
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Location: Marlboro, NJ, USA
Reviews written: 24
Trusted by: 11 members
About Me:
Three gorgeous boys and happily married! No time but a lot of love!
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