I recently attended a Pampered Chef Party. Has anyone used what they call the Stoneware Fluted Pan? (it’s like a Bundt pan)
I asked Rose and she said has never tried them and she wouldn’t recommend a stoneware pan for cakes because it is too slow to conduct the heat and cakes need more rapid heat conduction. I’m just wondering if anyone else has tried them and if so what the results were. People at these parties seem to swear by their stoneware cookie sheets etc but those I’ve talked to are are more into baking pizzas, cookies brownies etc whereas I generally make cakes. I’m always interested in finding new and interesting kitchen equipment but I also don’t want to waste my money.
I would trust Rose too. I have 2 baking stones and it’s correct that it takes forever to heat it up so it’s probably not a good idea to use them for cakes.
Funny you should post this. I saw one of these the other night—a Paula Deen product—and thought what in the world would you use it for. I agree, would never use it for cakes. Only thing I use stoneware for is 1) my oven stone 2) pie dish (emile henry) 3) bread baking (la cloche), but for 1 and 3, it is preheated for about 45 minutes.
stone takes 45 to 60 minutes to heat, aluminum takes about 1 minute. cookies and bread will work, but cakes, i don’t think so.
unless, perhaps…. you are using cake mix, all its additives, buffers, stabilizers, and multiple leavening forms (most artificial), may work with a stoneware bundt.
stoneware will work in the microwave, and there are a few cakes that microwave beautifully. don’t have much experience with this though, but the theory is there.
I’ve baked a little extra batter in a ceramic ramekin, which probably acts something like stoneware. It produced a cake that was volcano-shaped. It might work for a recipe designed to go with it, but I doubt it would be satisfactory for all cakes. I’m imagining that the batter would need to be pretty acidic to get the eggs to set early enough for the cake to work.
Hard to tell from the picture how it turned out—cake was covered with a lot of fruit and frosting.
There is a recipe in the cake bible where you preheat the pan before baking the cake. Might work for that. Could also be used in other ways, to mold a cold salad for example. I think the general point is this wouldn’t be a good all-purpose cake pan though.
I have been baking mini cakes in ramekins all the time and have been doing so for over a year. I do it when I want to make individualized cakes for like a party. They bake fast and even and are super cute. I have done everything from Rose’s All Occasion Downy Yellow Butter Cake to my own Red Velvet and Devils Food as well as Carrot Cake. I also use a different square ramekin when I am baking breads, crumbles and loaves and have no problem either. I have been contemplating doing mini cheesecakes in them but for some reason I keep hesitating.
Thank you everybody for all that information. I did some research too and couldn’t find anything except microwave cake recipes for that pan and most of them used cake mixes.
Thank you Jan for the link to Epinions. I’ve decided I’m not going to buy that particular pan. I’ll stick with the pizza stones. I’m trying to get information because I’m hosting a Pampered Chef party in April. A lot of my friends think I’m the best baker around (which isn’t true of course, it’s just that they don’t bake much) and so they ask me questions. I do enjoy baking and trying new recipes. I bake almost every week but still have lots to learn. I hope that with the help of all of you I may one day become the level of baker I would like to be.
Kayex: I have used ramekins too for small cakes but they are different that these ones from Pampered chef. Pampered Chef is unglazed stoneware.
I made the Plum and Blueberry Upside-Down Torte from RHC today. I only had frozen plums and frozen blueberries so I decided to give it a try. I thawed the fruit till it was just barely thawed and not making any juice yet. Spreading the cake batter on top was trickier. Due to the heat of the caramel sauce, the barely thawed fruit immediately started releasing juice. The next time I’m using frozen fruit I’m going to let the caramel cool before putting the fruit on top. However, it baked up beautifully. The cake is beautiful and moist. I’m definitely going to make this again. It’s delicious !
Heidi, thanks so much for the tasting notes on the plum-blueberry upside down cake, I’ve been wondering about that one. Is the top dark blue/purple? Or variegated with lighter spots for the inside of the plums?
Julie,
I had Damson plums in my freezer and used them - they’re purple tart plums. I’m not sure how they differ in taste from Greengage called for in the recipe. For some reason I thought the fruit on the cake would end up having a shiny glazed sort of look but I was wrong. No shine. The fruit has a dark purple color with virtually no distinction in color between the blueberries and the plums. Now that the cake is a day old I’m finding the caramel a bit strong so next time I’m not going to make it as dark. However, everybody in the family likes it and it’s wonderful with a nice dollop of whipped cream on the side. Yum !
