Okay, so I decided to give these cupcake molders a try the other day. Been seeing them everywhere, you know? Not the paper liners, but the actual, like, silicone molds or the sturdy metal pans with the cups built right in. I had this old metal one kicking around in the back of the cupboard for ages. Probably came with the house, honestly.
My First Go with the Molder
So, first thing, I dug out that old metal pan. Looked okay, bit dusty. Gave it a good wash. Then I remembered reading somewhere you gotta grease these things, or else. Found some butter, smeared it around inside each cup. Made a bit of a mess, fingers all greasy.
Mixed up a simple vanilla batter. Nothing fancy, just a box mix, don’t judge me. The tricky part was getting the batter into the little cups. I tried using a spoon. Bad idea. Dribbled batter all over the top of the pan between the cups. What a pain. Then I remembered seeing someone use an ice cream scoop. Didn’t have one of those the right size. Ended up using a measuring cup, pouring it carefully. Still wasn’t super neat, but better than the spoon disaster.
Filling Level Drama
Next problem: how much to fill ’em? The box said “fill 2/3 full”. Eyeballing 2/3 isn’t my strong suit, apparently. Some looked okay, others definitely looked more like 3/4 full, maybe even more. Just hoped for the best, really.
Shoved it in the oven. Smelled good pretty quickly. Waited the time, pulled them out. Okay, the ones I overfilled? Yeah, they puffed up and spilled over the sides. Looked like little brown mushrooms fused to the pan. The others looked more like actual cupcakes, thankfully.
Getting Them Out and Cleaning Up
Let them cool a bit, then tried to get them out. This is where the greasing really mattered. Most of them popped out okay with a little wiggle from a knife around the edge. A couple of the mushroom-top ones? They fought back. Broke one trying to pry it loose. Ended up with half a cupcake. Sigh.
And the cleanup… oh boy. That baked-on overflow batter on the metal pan? Took some serious scrubbing. Even the cups that came out clean needed a good scrub inside to get the buttery residue off. Not as simple as just tossing paper liners, that’s for sure.
Final Thoughts
- Grease it well. Like, really well.
- Don’t overfill. Seriously, 2/3 means 2/3.
- Maybe use a piping bag or a scoop for filling next time to avoid mess.
- Metal pans work, but cleanup is a chore.
So, yeah. That was my adventure with the cupcake molder. They turned out okay-ish in the end, the ones that survived. Tasted fine. But it was definitely more work than I expected, especially compared to using paper liners. Might try a silicone one next time, heard those are easier to pop stuff out of and clean. We’ll see. For now, that metal pan might go back into the cupboard for a while.
