Use a Silicone Cupcake Pan for Easy Baking and Clean Up

A silicone cupcake pan will make your life much easier when it comes to getting baked cupcakes out of the pan - especially if you're making a giant cupcake. But don't try and make them without adding some cooking spray or cake release. You'll find silicone cup cake molds and pans in all of the configurations that typical aluminum cupcake pans are made. There's also a selection of silicone reusable cupcake baking cups.  Two major cake pan brands - Wilton and HIC Brands have a wide selection. If you've been watching the Big Top Giant Cupcake Mold commercial on television, you'll find that selection here as well.

It's rare for me to go more than a few weeks without cooking a batch of cupcakes or brownies for my church, the VFW, or the women's club. When it comes to fundraising home cooking is still tops. It's so much easier to sell a cupcake for $1.50 then it is to make a $15 sale on an entire cake. I'll often bring my cake decorating tube with me and offer to personalize the cupcakes for children. This usually guarantees a sale or two. Don't forget to squirt some frosting on their fingers, kids still love this!

I've also started to make cupcakes instead of cakes for desserts, when I have friends and family over for summer barbecues or Christmas buffets. You decorate the cupcakes with just white frosting and then use geen M&Ms to make a wreath aound the cupcake. Use red M&Ms for an abrstract bow. When you arrange them on a platter or cupcake sand you'll be surprised at how effective a presentation it makes.

I prefer a silicone cupcake cake pan because it can go in the oven, the freezer, and micowave. Because it is silicone, you do want to make sure that the silicone used to make the cupcake pan meets the FDA standards for silicone bakeware. You should also buy bakeware made fom 100% silicone with no fillers.

If you've got silicone bakeware at home and you're not sure if it's 100% silicone, there's a simple way for you to find out. Grab part of your bakeware and squeeze it or bend it. If you see white, then it has fillers. If you're silicone bakeware has an odor when it's in the oven, there's a good chance that it has fillers.

One of the reason that bakers love silicone cupcake pans is that they flex, which makes it easier to release the cupcakes. However that same flexing can make it difficult to get the cupcake pan in and out of the oven. I reccommend placing it on a standard cookie sheet to make it easier to handle.

Don't forget to think of novelty shapes for the holidays. I'm partial to hearts for Valentine's Day and shamrocks for St. Patrick's Day. But you'll find lots of other designs to inspire you as well.

If you prefer to use cupcake liners and are tired of using paper liners only once, then consider use silicone reusable cupcake liners. You can either put them into your aluminum cupcake pans or just put the cupcake liners on a pan.