Gift-wrapped baking
Special molds do double duty
James Carrier
If you bake just once a year, it’s probably around the holidays. And most likely, you’re going to bake gifts.
I love to give ― and serve ― this orange-apricot bread, so tender and sweet it’s just shy of being cake. It’s oven-ready in 20 minutes or less, and I can double the recipe with no complications.
But this year, my production is speeding up because I’m baking right in the gift package. No more pans to empty, wash, or buy. I’m using paper baking molds.
Commercial bakers have long had access to paper molds, which come in many pan sizes and can be used at oven temperatures up to 450°. And now the molds are showing up in cookware stores and catalogs. Best of all, they’re inexpensive (from 25 to 95 cents each).
If you order from a catalog, they’re usually sold in sets. One mail-order source is Sur La Table; (800) 243-0852.
