Saturday, October 9, 2010

Gadgets: Cupcake Papers Without a Pan

Maybe it's just me, but it seems like no matter what cupcake or muffin recipe I make, it never makes the right number of cupcakes to fit in the muffin pan. Being at high altitude makes it even worse, but even when I lived at sea level, the numbers seldom worked out right.

When I found cupcake liners that claimed to be able to hold up to baking without a pan, I was skeptical. But that didn't stop me. I gave them a try.

They come in several sizes, colors, and configurations. Here's the package for one of the sizes:


Amazingly, these hold up pretty darned well. Of course you can mangle and flatten them, but if you fill them without mashing them, they keep their shape, even when the batter misbehaves. Here's a case in point. The cupcake batter over-rose and didn't set (a common problem here at high altitude) and it dribbled over the side of the cup. The cupcake isn't pretty, but the paper held up well.


Another benefit of these extra-sturdy papers is that they peel off well. I've had cupcakes and muffins where the papers have torn when trying to remove them. No such problem here.

The papers are more expensive than standard cupcake papers, but they're not the standard flimsy papers. It's an interesting product.
Yum

2 comments:

cedarglen said...

Hm. A worthy product, to be sure. That said, I suspect that most of your issues are altitude-related, not the container. as you well know, baking at altitude, especially with quick breads is a one formula-at-a-time project.
Since I'm at 800 feet and plan to stay here, I;ll file this under Good Info.
I too have never had a batch perfectly fill my muffin pans, but I still get great muffins, if only 11 or 23. Stuff happens and roubst product is better than wimpy stuff.
Honestly, I do not understand the need to use a liner, without the supporting pan. Just to educate me, please send/post an example of when this free-standing paper would be a good idea. Without being sarcastic, I honestlty do not get it. Please post a little more and help me understand why I might need this thing. Thanks.
Love your blog...
C.

Donna Currie said...

Hi Cedar!

There are times when a second full muffin pan isn't going to fit into my oven with whatever else is in there. But maybe I can squeeze in a quarter-sheet pan with those two or three cupcakes on it.

Or it might be that I don't have a muffin pan free to use, depending on what sort of kitchen madness is going on at the time.

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