Sherwood HomeGiant Cupcake Mould/Big Top Cupcake Bake Set/Baking

Ordered this mould and was a bit nervous because of the mixed reviews and I have never used silicone bakeware before. When it came it was not Big Top as advertised (JUMBO Cupcake), however for the price I am really impressed. I am fairly new to baking so I followed the instructions and recipe from Laralans review and I am really happy with my cupcake and it looks fab decorated! I did find that the base and top took the same amount of time to cook 1hr 20m but this will be due to all ovens being diffent so keep an eye on your cake. As the other reviewers have said the key is in the greasing and cooling, I greased mine with butter making sure I got into the spaces and let it cool completely before trying to remove, by that time the cakes had come away from the mould on their own. I did get a bit of a funny smell from the moulds every now and then while they were cooking but this did not effect the cake when it was finished. For the price these moulds are brilliant and if you follow Laralans instructions I don't think you can go wrong.

As a seasoned cake maker I was sceptical about silcone and the actual size of this mould for a celebration cake. The metal versions are 6 times the price so it was worth a try for the money. I took into consideration the reviews but you have to vary the heat settings and recipes to suit your own appliances. I washed the mould in boiling soapy water before use, sprayed it liberally with cooking oil and left it for a day. I sprayed it again before baking and the bottom half was succesful while the top stuck a little and was not cooked properly. The cake needs to bake for a lot longer than suggested {I have a fan oven} 2nd attempt was perfect. My chocolate cake recipe is 9oz of SR flour sifted together with 1oz cocoa and 1+ 1/2 teaspns baking powder,10oz Stork soft beaten well add 10oz caster sugar and beat again. Gradually add 10oz of beaten eggs with a desertspoonful of flour mix to prevent curdling{all done in a mixer}.Fold in remaining flour with a metal spoon and divide between moulds. Bake on seperate trays at the same time on the same shelf at 160 for 25 mins then turn heat down to 150 for a further 40 to 45 mins. Test to make sure thy are cooked and leave to cool for 5 mins before turning upside down on a cooling rack covered with a j cloth to stop the fresh sponge breaking through the rungs. when cold cut both spoges in half and sandwich with chocolate spread. Ready to decorate.

Purchased this cheap version of the giant cupcake tin as I had wanted one for ages but couldn't bring myself to spend £30 or so quid on a cake tin I will only use a few times a year - times are hard! I have had silicone bake ware before so I know it works; you just have to ignore the odd smell from it the first few times you use it and it doesn't seem to affect the taste of the cake at all. I used sunflower oil brushed inside the mold and then dusted with flour to help to release the cake - again, too skint to buy 'proper' cake release spray, which I'm told is great,and then unashamedly cheated and mixed 4 packets of cake mix together as this time I was being 'helped' by a 5 yr old and so we went for speed over style! Worked absolutely perfectly -4 PACKETS OF MIX FAR TOO MUCH 'tho, I had to trim off a good small cakes worth to get the tops level - 3 packets would be about right I reckon. I just set my oven at the temp suggested on the packet and after a while just kept poking my trusted old knitting needle in to test for 'doneness' in the usual way. Obviously the pointy top cooks quicker than the big bottem! Overall great fun and masses of scope for going mad with the icing and decorations on such a large scale. Stuck mine together with jam and butter-cream - yum!

a) Make sure you double up your recipe because you'll have to do another batch and your original batch will start to rise while you do that, giving an uneven result... or worse, you'll notice that your top bit is way too small and you'll have to bake another top!b) Someone give the enlightened designer a slap: why on Earth do a wavy edge on a cake mould that usually sits on a rack in the oven?!! Anyway, just make sure you put a thick enough layer of foil so your top doesn't tilt. Note it will slow down your baking process, as would using a tray because of the design flaw, but not as much.c) The middle part to keep a hollow for filling is quite handy, but allowing the cake to rise in the baking process without it and then shaving off the top neatly makes more sense if you want to keep the consistency of your cake and not end up with an unbaked centre.d) Seriously adjust your cooking time: you have to bake a narrow but high cake. Lower heat for longer, then.e) Watch it if you have a small oven. Even if you know your recipe and oven inside out, having a small oven won't be in your favour because you will need to lower the cake.Not the easiest mould to use if you want a guaranteed result, but the shape is simply great for a feature cake.

Bought this to make for my Granddaughters Birthday. I used to make lots of cakes both for myself and other people. I followed the recipe on here as so many others had said it worked beautifully, however both my first two attempts failed. Im not saying the recipe isnt good, it could well be my oven. The outsides of the cakes were cooked, but although springy to the touch, when taken out of the oven, both dipped in the middle to reveal an uncooked middle. I reverted back to the recipe I have always used and the result was great. No problems at all. I used a "madeira" cake mix as follows for ONE mould!!6oz Margarine6oz caster sugar6oz SR flour2oz Plain flour3 eggs1 tsp Baking powder1tbsp MilkGenerously grease both cake moulds and lightly flour. Beat the marg and sugar with 2 of the eggs. Add the last egg and sift the flour with the Baking pwd into the bowl altogether. Beat until smooth add the milk and beat again ( i use an electric hand mixer) Then put into ONE of the moulds and cook at 160C for around 50 minutes, when lightly pressed, the middle of the cake should spring back. Repeat for the second mould.i found that by making and COOKING each section seperately, was better for me.