Kaiserflex Muffin Baking Cups
by Kara DiCamillo, Newport, Rhode Island on 07.12.05
We were wondering when someone was going to come up with this idea. Our friends over at design*sponge spotted these reusable baking cups, suitable for muffins or cupcakes. They can be reused for 1,000 bakings and come in a set of six for $9.99. They are heat resistant (up to 500 degrees Fahrenheit), dishwasher safe and are flexible so the baked goods easily pop out. We’re interested in knowing how these stand up to the paper and tin liners. Have you tried them? Let us know! Via ::design*sponge ::Kaiser Bakeware
Silicone cookware is tons of fun. I have not used the muffin cups, but I do have a silicone loaf pan. It works wonderfully, and it's fun to pop the loaves out when they're done, but I find it very hard to hand clean. I imagine if you had a dishwasher (which I don't), this wouldn't be a problem.
I'm a big fan of silicone bakeware, too. I've used it to make muffins (in an all-silicone muffin "tin." the above cups can be put in a standard muffin tin), cornbread (in an 8x8), and pound cake in a bundt pan. While everything has come out quite easily, I found that the weight of the pound cake was too much for the bunt pan--it ended up more flat than a cake from a metal bunt pan. In all cases, you are required to grease silicone bakeware according to the recipe's instructions. Nothing ever sticks, and it is handy for storage as it always returns to its shape and can therefore be crammed into a drawer, a jar, etc.
Also, for whatever reason, I have always found it on sale--usually marked down to less than the traditional metal versions. Perhaps it hasn't caught on? I agree that hand-washing can be a pain.