Paula Deen Speckled Bakeware (and King Arthur Flour cookies)

Let's be honest here. It's hard for me not to fall in love with new bakeware. I've been known to ogle new cake pans, pie plates, and Bundt pans whenever I see them in a store.

So when I saw a photo of the new Paula Deen speckled bakeware in dark blue, I had to ask for a sample.

Reminiscent of the old-school granite ware that my mom had when I was still using an Easy Bake Oven, this has random white speckles on a very dark blue background.

Unlike that ancient cookware, this stuff is super-slippy nonstick, as I found out when I baked some cookies.

It took me a while to decide exactly what I wanted to make on my new baking sheet. I thought maybe a loaf of free-form rustic bread would be nice.

But then I decided I needed some dessert, and I remembered that I had a box of King Arthur Flour chocolate chip cookie mix in the pantry. They had send me samples of a few different mixes a while back, and this one was still waiting for me.

So the cookies had to be baked. Had to.

The cookie mix was super simple to put together, and the cookies were pretty darned good. The bakeware was very very nonstick ... much better than I expected. The baked cookies slipped around the pan easily, leaving very little trace of their presence on the pan when they were removed.

While I only received the cookie sheet, I'm sure the other bakeware is just as good - there are round cake pans and 9x13 cake pans available, as well.

Purty, isn't it?

And here's the cookie mix box:

FYI, King Arthur Flour donates money to Feeding America when you buy their Essential Goodness mixes. Check out their website for details.

Who's the bakeware for: People who bake. Also nice for food photos.

Pros: Pretty. Nonstick.

Cons: The baking sheet is 10x15, which is slightly smaller than a half-sheet pan which measures 11x16. This isn't going to make a difference to most people, but it's something to keep in mind.

Wishes: I'm hoping they add a pie plate to this collection. Not that I need one, but a speckled pie plate would look awesome in photos.

Source: I received the cookie sheet and cookie mix from their respective manufacturers at no cost to me.

Shape and Bake

I usually don't review things before I've actually tried them, but I was so excited about the Shape and Bake that I was ready to write about it before I even had it washed. This kit is really cool!

The kit is like a construction set for baking pans. It's a set of straight and curved pieces of metal along with hinges with clips. The idea is that you can assemble different shaped baking pans rather than buying pans in shapes that you might not ever use a second time.

And of course you can create shapes that probably don't exist in commercial bakeware.

I had a little more fun that I should have, putting pieces together to form ... ummm ... things that were just odd shapes. I almost went with a thing that was sort of like a candy cane, but then decided that a heart made more sense. I wasn't planning on decorating it, so I wanted something that was an easily recognizable shape.

It took a little fiddling before I got the heart shape arranged so all the edges were flush against each other, but I think I'll get better at that sort of thing after I've used the kit a lot. And, hey, that's what frosting is for, right? Little flaws can be covered.

The first thing I baked was a lemon bar mix that I got from King Arthur Flour. It's a new line of mixes, and they sent me a few to sample. Since the heart was smaller than the recommended pan size, I used the leftover mix in muffin cups.

Silly me. I could have used more of the kit to make a small square to use up the rest of the mix, but at the time I was just excited about the heart.

The Shape and Bake comes with a booklet that shows how to make a bunch of different shapes, which is helpful, but it's probably more fun to just mess around with the parts and see what you come up with.

The actual instructions on how to use the kit were a little sketchy, though. The kit came with little slips of parchment paper and I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do with them. The instructions say, "Connect your shapes with the Shape and Bake clip and pre cut parchment paper on the outside of the shape." Um ... okay. The photos on the website show the parchment under the clip things that hold the metal pieces. I thought that might be to help prevent scratching the metal, but most of the clips were too snug to let the parchment slip under. I gave up and didn't use them and nothing terrible happened.

I also wondered whether I was supposed to have the shiny side of the matte side of the metal pieces on the inside of the pan. After looking at some of the configurations in the booklet, I saw that the curved pieces sometimes had the curve inside and sometimes outside. So apparently it doesn't matter which side is inside.

When I made the lemon bars, the cookie crust at the bottom was just fine, but the curd mix wanted to run out at some of my not-tight-enough connections. But that curd mix was pretty thin. Cake batter is thicker. I should have made the cookie walls taller, and it all would have been fine. Or I could have cut a couple of large parchment strips and lined the inner side of the pan with the strip to keep the pan from leaking.

But I'm chalking all of that up to user error because, seriously, you can make cakes in wacky shapes, and that's certainly something worth getting excited about.

Well, if you're me, you get excited about it.

If you don't want to make a whole cake in a wacky shape, you could also use a small shape to make a hole inside a large cake you're baking. Like you could leave a small circle or square inside your cake so you could fill it with something after it's baked. Like ice cream. I vote ice cream.

But let me go back a second to that lemon bar mix, because it was freaking AWESOME.

And really easy to make. You just mix the crust with softened butter, press it into the pan and bake until golden. Then mix the filling with egg and water and pour that on top of the crust and bake again.

What I loved about the lemon bars is that they were TART. Not that sweet lemon that tastes like candy. This was lemony and fresh and tart and not sticky sweet. The crust was nice, too. I'd for sure make these again.

King Arthur sent me a couple of other mixes to try, so I'll be reporting back on those a bit later. Next up are cheesecake bars. Mmmmm. Cheeeeeesecake.

The SECOND thing I baked in the Shape and Bake was a batch of brownies. This time I decided that maybe the little slips of parchment were supposed to be at the bottom of the hinges, which seems to make more sense than having them at the top. I'd suggest doing that.

Unfortunately, I had some leakage around the bottom of the pan in one spot. Note to self: make sure I use a completely flat baking pan next time. Oopsie.

Can you guess what this shape is supposed to be?

But that bottom leakage was no problem. It made a nice snack for me. Hah!

I also made another error. I forgot to spray the pan with nonstick baking spray. But that didn't actually cause any problem. The cake came out just fine. The fact that I could unclip it and remove the side pieces individually probably helped.

Next time (see, there's some learning involved) I think I'm going to use a silicone mat under the cake instead of parchment, since that's even more nonstick than parchment. The cake released okay, but I want to try the mat, anyway.

If you're staring at that brownie and wondering what the heck shape it's supposed to be ... it's could be one of two things, I guess. It's either a really brown slice of bread (do you see it?) or it's a cupcake or muffin. Imagine it frosted with something fluffy starting above that little indented waist at the center. Right? Right?

Okay, it's just a shape that I thought looked interesting.

Who's it for:
Creative bakers will love the Bake and Shape kit.

The lemon bar mix would probably appeal best to people who don't want to bake completely from scratch, but who want something that's higher-end than the grocery store brands.

Pros:
The kit is awesome. Fun. Creative.

The lemon bars were tasty. Easy.

Cons:
I wish there was more instruction for assembling the kit, but after fiddling with it, it was simple enough to figure out.

The bar mix is a tad expensive compared to store-bought.

Wishes:
I hope they come out with add-on shapes for the kit, maybe with different curved pieces and larger and smaller straight ones. Not that they're needed, but it would just be fun to mess around with.

As far as the lemon bars, I'd love to see these in key lime. Oh yum. But there are a bunch of other mixes, so I guess I shouldn't be so greedy.

Source: I received both the Shape and Bake and the King Arthur Flour mixes from the respective manufacturers for the purpose of a review.

Mason Cash Bread Baking Set

You know I love bread, right?

So I was pretty sure I'd like the bread baking set from Mason Cash. It includes a large bowl that's used for mixing and rising, and a lid for the bowl that doubles as a baking stone. So it's two pieces with three uses.

Or, depending on how you use the bowl, it might have other functions. Like, you can use it for mixing the dough, then use the bowl to let the bread rise, then shape the dough and put in on the lid for the final rise while the upside-down bowl functions as a lid,

Yes, it's a bowl and a lid, too.

It's also a really nice bowl for other things, like fruit or for serving large quantities of mashed potatoes.

I took it for a test drive with bread (of course) after seasoning the lid/baking stone piece according to the instructions. The bowl doesn't need seasoning, since it's completely glazed. But the lid does need seasoning because it's unglazed clay. I also used cornmeal under the bread to keep it from sticking.

The result? I kind of love this! It's big enough for a big lump of dough, and the fact that the lid doubles as the baking stone makes it even more useful

Speaking of that lid - it's the perfect size for pizza.

Who's it for: People who love baking bread or who have other uses for a large bowl plus a baking stone.

Pros: It works just like it's supposed to, and it looks attractive.

Cons: It's a bit pricey, but good baking stones aren't cheap. Plus you get a bowl.

Wishes: I wish there were little handles on the bowl to make it easier to move when it's upside down on the baking stone lid. But that's a small wish. I was able to lift it, but the handles would just make it easier.

Source: I received this from the manufacturer for the purpose of a review.

Note: I was so anxious to test this, I just threw together a loaf of bread and didn't measure or time it well enough to write up a recipe. I'll do that later, I promise!

Cookina Reusable Parchment Paper

I am a huuuuge fan of parchment paper for lining baking sheets when I'm making cookies. Huge.

But what I'm not a huge fan of is cutting parchment to fit certain pans. Which is a great thing to do if you want to make sure your brownies come out of a pan. But it's just a little too fiddly for me to do unless I know it's absolutely necessary.

The solution to my fiddliness problem is to use reusable "parchment," so I only have to do the fiddly thing once and I can reuse the parchment over and over and over again.

I tested a Cookina baking sheet in my favorite 9-inch square baking pan, cutting it to fit the pan with just a little overhang over the top to make it easy to grab the sheets to pull the baked goods from the pan.

Cutting it was no more difficult that cutting parchment or paper, and fitting it was just a matter of measuring, folding, and cutting along the folded lines. Then I creased the liner where I wanted the folds to be, and slipped it into the pan.

(Note: instructions on the website say you shouldn't crease the paper, but I think that's more important when you want to use it flat - you wouldn't crease it for storage and unfold to use it. But since cutting is safe, it's not like you're going to release demons by folding it to fit a baking pan.)

Easy peasy cutting and folding. And I only had to do that once for multiple uses.

The way I cut mine, all four sides are parchment-lined, but for other types of pans - like bread pans with sloping sides, for example, it might be easier to cut a strip so that the parchment covers the bottom and two sides, while the other two sides are left uncovered.

Or, for something round, like a cake pan, you could cut a circle for the bottom of the pan, because that's where the scary sticking happens, and it's easy enough to run a thin spatula around the outside edge of the pan to make sure that it's loose before you turn it out.

Of course, you can use the Cookina sheet as regular flat parchment for baking whatever it is you bake on baking sheets. But me, I'm more excited about going all origami with them and fitting them into the baking pans I use most often.

For storage, I just fold that cut sheet flat and store it inside the pan. If you keep the Cookina as one big flat sheet, it comes with a metal ring that you can use to keep it neatly rolled up, so you don't need to save the box for storage.

BUT!!! These aren't just for baking baked goods. That sounds weird, but you know what I mean, right? You can use them for other types of oven cooking when you want easier cleanup, like when you're roasting vegetables or baking chicken or fish or whatever.

Who's it for: People who bake sticky things.

Pros: Reusable. Washable. Dishwasher safe (although I doubt I could find a reasonable way to fit this in my dishwasher. So much easier to just wash by hand!)

Cons: While they are reusable, they aren't permanent. Eventually, they would need to be replaced.

Wishes: It would be nice if there was another color option. There might be a time when I use one to bake fish or roast hot peppers, and I might not want to use the same sheet for my delicate sugar cookies. Thus far, they haven't picked up any odors, but I haven't used them for anything very pungent, either. So, just for peace of mind, it might be nice to have different colors for different uses.

Source: I received this from the manufacturer for the purpose of a review.

Building Bricks and Figures Ice Silicone Molds

I've been accumulating a little collection of silicone molds for candy, ice, and other moldable things, so I was more than happy to test trays that made building-brick shaped products and odd little people.

Or maybe they're robots. I'm really not sure.

They've got all the usual properties of silicone - temperature range that makes them fine for freezer, oven, and dishwasher. They're pretty much nonstick. And they're flexible.

I tried them with ice. I always need ice. And then I remembered that plain white ice doesn't photograph all that well, so I filled the trays with brewed coffee and used some milk to add some accents here and there.

They worked just fine, except for a few where I poured too fast and ended up with bubbles in the pegs of the building blocks. But let's face it - they're just ice cubes. I wasn't planning on building anything with them. And now I know better.

Folks with kids who like Legos will love these. I doubt kids will be all that impressed with coffee-flavored ice cubes, but of course you could use them for candy or for baking small treats.

Who's it for: Whimsically-minded folks. Or people with kids.

Pros: Made from silicone.

Cons: For some uses, it might be hard to get the product unmolded, because the "pegs" are small. It might take some practice to get it right.

Wishes: Hmmm. None I can think of.

Source: I received this from the manufacturer for the purpose of a review.

Emile Henry Bread Baker

You might have noticed that I have a lot of bread recipes over on Cookistry. And I wrote a bread-baking cookbook. I'm always experimenting with recipes, and with equipment.

The Emile Henry Loaf Baker is a new toy for me. It's made from glazed ceramic, and it has a ceramic top, as well. There are two holes on the top of the pan and two holes on the bottom, for a little ventilation.

If you've baked a lot of bread, you've probably noticed that it makes a difference what you bake the bread on - or in. Different materials have different heating properties - some heat faster, others heat slower. Some are better at transferring heat. And there are other differences.

What that means is that bread baked on a cookie sheet will react differently than one baked on a baking stone.

So, the Loaf Baker offers a much different baking experience than a standard metal baking pan. Not only is it a completely different material, but it also has a cover, which means the bread is baked in a much moister environment than in an open oven.

That moist environment results in a crisp crust - it's why some bread recipes suggest that you spritz water into the oven or have a pan of water in the bottom of the oven. The idea is to create a steamy environment for the baking bread.

But with an enclosed pan, you don't need to create steam - the bread itself gives off moisture, and that moisture gets trapped inside the pan. So you have the advantage of steam with less fuss.

I hesitate to say that one pan or one material is better than another. It depends a little bit on what your desired result is.

But I'm all about choices. I love having different pans to use, and the Emile Henry Loaf Baker is definitely worth adding to the baking arsenal. It's different from other pans that I own, and ... it's not just utilitarian. It's pretty. It would look good displayed on a shelf when not in use.

I think the lid is a major reason why this pan is appealing, but you can also use the pan without the lid, just like a regular baking pan.

I've used it for basic white bread and rye bread, but I'm sure you'll be seeing it on Cookistry for some more recipes I've been working on!


Who's it for: People who bake bread and want options besides basic metal bread pans.

Pros: Useful and attractive.

Cons: Since it's ceramic, it needs a little more care than a metal pan that you can drop without causing major damage.

Wishes: I wish I would have had this years ago.

Source: I received this from the manufacturer for the purpose of a review.

Fresh Picked Muffin Cups

Why do cupcakes have to be round?

They don't, I tell ya. They don't.

These adorable little silicone baking cups from Fred give you another option.

They're designed to look like the baskets that fresh berries come in, but they also resemble flowerpots that seedlings or small plants come in - so that gives you an extra decorating option.

They'd be perfect for fruit-filled muffins that show off the bits of fruit, or for cupcakes that you're going to decorate.

These are fairly sturdy, and they stood up well in the oven with no weird bulging when they baked, and since they're made from silicone, it was easy to remove the cupcakes I baked in them. Then, when they're empty, they're dishwasher safe - always a plus in my house.
The set comes with four cups, so if you're going to be baking a lot of muffins or cupcakes, you'll need several sets.

What I like using them for is for the extra cake batter I always have when I'm baking a standard cake recipe. Since I live at high altitude, I generally need to fill cake pans a little less to adjust for the extra rise that happens up here.

Not only does it solve the overflow problem, but it gives me a great way to sample the cake I'm making without slicing into it.

So far, I've been happy with these. They clean up easily, and I haven't had any staining, even when I baked a very dark chocolate cake.

Who's it for: People who like decorative desserts.

Pros: Easy to use; easy to clean. Can be used in oven or refrigerator or freezer.

Cons: They come in a 4-pack, so keep that in mind if you want to bake a dozen.

Wishes: I like this color a lot, but it would be nice to have other options.

Source: I received this from the manufacturer for the purpose of a review.

Perfect Bacon Bowl

There's something about late-night television commercials ... particularly the ones for the As Seen on TV products.

They look so ... enticing. I even want the cat-thing ... even though I don't have a cat.

So, there's the Perfect Bacon Bowl. Late at night it sounds like a good idea. In broad daylight, I wonder why I need bowls made of bacon, anyway. But I think again. Why don't I need bowls made from bacon?

The bacon bowl maker is made from some sort of alien plastic stuff. Okay, not alien. That I know of.

But it's not metal, which is good because I wanted to make bacon bowls in my microwave. If I wanted to make a dozen bacon bowls, the oven would make sense. One or two, I'm not going to be heating up the oven.

All ready for filling.

Inexplicably, the instruction say you should grease the bowl. Bacon is greasy, obviously, but I greased the bowls anyway, then placed the bacon according to the instructions, and popped them into the microwave for 2 minutes and 30 seconds.

And ... voila! Bacon bowls. Well, sometimes it was done in 2 minutes 30 seconds. But depending on the bacon, it could be a little longer. So you just need to check the doneness of the bacon (and maybe get rid of the grease!) and cook for a little longer, 30 seconds at a time.

When I went to remove the bacon from the bowls after the bacon was cool, there was just a little it of sticking until the bacon just sort of popped off the bowl. So, yeah, I'd suggest following the instructions. A little bit of oil makes sense.

When I first heard about these, I thought, gee, why not use use an upturned muffin pan to make bowls in the oven? But the joy of these things is that you don't have to use the oven. You can, if you want to. But like I said, the microwave makes more sense for just one or two bowls.

And then you do this. Scrambled eggs in a bacon bowl.

And ... the moat around the bowls did a pretty good job of containing the bacon grease. There was a little splattering in the microwave, as you'd expect any time you cook bacon in there. But it was no worse than any other microwave-bacon-cooking adventure.

If you want to, you can make the bowls ahead of time and refrigerate. If you want them warm, just microwave for 30 seconds or so, to take the chill off. If you cook them longer, they tend to sag a bit, but it's not terrible.

These could be considered one-trick ponies if you only want to use them for bacon, but there's no reason you couldn't turn them upside-down and use them to bake or microwave other things. Or make cookie bowls or bread bowls. Or ... well, pretty much anything else you want to use them for.

I have a weakness for shaped bakeware, so I'll probably find a lot of uses for these. Even some that don't include bacon.

Who's it for: Bacon lovers.

Pros: BACON bowls. Works in the microwave.

Cons: Normally, I would say price, but these are getting a lot less expensive.

Wishes: Mini bacon bowls would be kind of neat for one-bite appetizers, although wrapping the bacon around small ones might not be so fun.

Source: I received these from the company's PR firm for the purpose of a review.

Entremet from Silpat

If you're familiar with Silpat, the first thing that comes to mind is probably a flat, flexible sheet that you'd use instead of parchment paper.

The Entremet from Silpat is a a little different than the company's other offerings.

The familiar flexible sheets are probably their most popular item, but that's not all they make. Not too long ago, I reviewed a ventilated nonstick sheet that's designed for bread baking called the Silpain.

The Entremet is different than either of those. But similar.

Like the company's other products, the Entremet is flexible and nonstick. But instead of being flat, it's formed into a shallow pan - about 3/4 inch high. So, it's perfect for sponge cake that you want to roll up to make a jelly roll. Or thin brownies. Or for candy. Or polenta that you're going to chill.

Or, for baking anything that you want to keep contained. It doesn't have to be fancy. Recently, I used the Entremet when I was drying out some cake crumbs. I could have spread them out on a baking sheet, no problem. But having them on the Entremet made it easier to gather up those crumbs and funnel them into a container for storage.

When it comes down to it, the Entremet is a flexible baking pan that you can use for pretty much anything that makes sense. Fudge. Bar cookies. Cornbread. Pizza. Focaccia.

Hmmm. How about those jelly squares? You shouldn't use a knife to cut anything that's in the Entremet, but since it's nonstick, you can just flip the product out and lift or peel the Entremet off. Okay, I haven't tried making jelly squares, but I don't see why it wouldn't work.

Who's it for: Bakers, candy makers, or anyone who thinks a flexible pan like this would be useful.

Pros: Definitely nonstick.

Cons: Because it's flexible, you do need to keep it on a baking sheet. For storage, it shouldn't be folded or mangled.

Wishes: It would be great to have this in other sizes.

Source: I received this from the manufacturer for the purpose of a review.

Cakelette Pans #Giveaway

This giveaway is pure fun.

I've worked with the folks at Cake Boss before, and they've go some really nice stuff. Really nice. And now they've got a live demo you can watch. Well, I guess it's technically not live anymore because it already happened. But there's a demo.

The demo features TWO of the items I have to give away. First, the Ghost Cakelette Pan. Spoooky. I love their little faces!

And the second is the round tiered cakelette pan. So you can make mini cakelettes that looked like tiered cakes. So fancy!

Would that be cute for a tea party?

Enter to win!!! Giveaway is OVER

These products are being provided directly from the manufacturer for this giveaway. Thanks to Cake Boss!

Duralex Casserole

How do you review something that's as ... normal ... as a glass casserole?

Yeah, I sort of struggled with this one.

Not that I don't like the Duralex rectangular roaster I've been testing. I actually like it a lot. But normally, I talk about new features or quirkiness. But what this has going for is that it's pretty classic. Back in the dim past, everyone's mom had some kind of clear baking dish for roasting or for casseroles, right?

This one would have looked right at home, although a keen eye would see that it's not exactly the same. The lines are classic, but updated, somehow. More retro/modern than old and clunky.

The 4-quart model, which is the one I have, is a great size for family-sized batches of lasagna or potatoes au gratin or for a beef roast or a large chicken. Cakes or brownies, too.

My most recent roast was actually a meatloaf,

If you look at it, you can see see a bit of crusty browning around the edges of the meat.

While a glass roaster isn't billed as a nonstick product, I have to say that it was pretty easy to clean.

Yup, there ya go. Glass roaster. Everyone needs at least one, right?

Here's the technical details, if you're into such things: Made from reinforced tempered glass resistant to a thermal shock of 200°C / 392 F temperature differentiation and withstands temperatures between -20°C/ -4 F and 300°C/ 572 F.

Who's it for: This would be a great gift for someone who is just starting out. Since it's clear, there's no need to worry about color schemes. And it's a good replacement piece if your glass casseroles are scratched.

Pros: Really affordable. When baking or making something like a casserole, you can see if the edges are browning or not. Nicer for table presentation than a metal baking pan. Oven, microwave, freezer, and dishwasher safe.

Cons: Not stove-top safe. And, since it's glass, there's the klutz factor.

Wishes: Gee, I wish I had all the sizes. And the oval shape is nice, too. Hard to decide which I like better.

Source:  I received this from the manufacturer for the purpose of a review.

Emile Henry Brick

I love color when it comes to bakeware, cookware, servingware, and other kitchen items.

Unfortunately, I never got around to picking one color. Or a theme. Or a scheme. I've got so many different colors in my kitchen, it's ridiculous.

Fortunately, if someone offers me a new piece of cookware or bakeware or gadgetware, I know it will fit in well with the rest of the random rainbow.

And if I ever need something to match or contrast with something else, I probably have it.

So when Emile Henry offered me a piece of their new Natural Chic Brick items, I didn't even think twice about what color Brick might be. I figured it wasn't blue.

But it really didn't matter. If it was blue or green or purple or yellow, it would fit into my kitchen.

They sent this really nice pie pan:

Brick is actually a very pretty red. Not cherry and not maroon. It's a rich, dark (but not too dark) red. I thought it was a perfect color for pie, matching well the the golden-brown color of a perfect pic crust.

But it's not just for pie plates - there are a large number of other items in this color, including mugs, bowls, ramekins, and plates. Lots and lots of stuff.

Go, check it out. It's a pretty color. And if red's not your thing, there are other Natural Chic colors as well. I'm just going to sit here and eat another slice of pie.

Who's it for: People who like this color, and who like Emile Henry products.

Pros: Emile Henry makes quality products.

Cons: Quality can be more expensive than the bargain-basement pans.

Wishes: Nothing, really. I've used the pan several times, and it's really nice.

Source:  I received this from the manufacturer for the purpose of a review.