Tiny Pumpkins in his Lunchbox

September 8, 2012 1:26 PM

I recently became the owner of a large collection of unused six-cavity Wilton silicone molds. I'm aware of the craft possibilities of these, but my son really wants me to bake some tiny breads for his lunchbox. So far, we have tried two recipes, and neither really retained much of the detail of the molds. Can you recommend a cake or (ideally) a quick bread recipe that will use these molds to their greatest advantage?
posted by anastasiav to Food & Drink (8 answers total)

Did you try banana bread? Pumpkin loaf might work.
posted by bilabial at 2:14 PM on September 8, 2012

Response by poster: The two I tried were banana bread and a basic muffin recipe.
posted by anastasiav at 2:25 PM on September 8, 2012

Last year when I tried this for the first time, the first batch didn't have much detail but the tiny cakes got progressively more detailed. I'm thinking maybe the batter had too much air in the beginning. I'm not sure at all about this, but it seems logical. Maybe let the batter sit for a while before baking?
posted by raisingsand at 2:48 PM on September 8, 2012

I'd think if your goal is to retain the detail, a lighter batter might work better. Angel food?
posted by trip and a half at 2:48 PM on September 8, 2012

Maybe a pretzel recipe would be dense enough to hold the shape, even though the dough rises. What do you think? Here is a recipe that only requires baking, not boiling like some pretzels do.
posted by shortyJBot at 2:56 PM on September 8, 2012

Well, this might just add to the confusion, but my first thought was pound cake or something similarly dense. I used to have large cookie molds and shortbread recipes were the best in terms of preserving details.
posted by she's not there at 2:57 PM on September 8, 2012 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I also thought of pound cake, or a bundt cake recipe, which is pretty much the opposite of my angel food idea. I may have to get a set of these and experiment.
posted by trip and a half at 3:01 PM on September 8, 2012

Best answer: I have this pan, and after much experimenting, found that the denser the cake, the greater the detail. Pound cake worked best. My pan isn't silicone, but greasing and flouring made a huge difference as well.
posted by dogmom at 10:39 PM on September 8, 2012