Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I decided to post a thorough review of this item because it really is a great pan, but for someone who doesn’t bake much (me), some pointers would have been welcomed. I searched all the reviews looking for suggestions like baking time, how much batter, etc, and there were few clear cut responses. I hope my review can help a few other people who may have similar questions. To start, id like to say it’s a great silicone mold. Perfect size to serve a small group. I purchased this for my son’s Spider-Man themed party and copied the idea for the cake from others I found in search. 1). Do I need to spray the pan? Absolutely. I don’t know what kinda of results you would get if you didn’t, but save yourself the headache and use a baking spray to coat the inside. Cake comes out easily that way, just go slow. Note: Use a metal baking sheet underneath the silicone to help stabilize it and make it easy to put in and take out of the oven. 2). How much cake mix should I use? That might largely depend on the number you have. I only used the 5 and imagine a 2 or 3 would be about the same. The mold comes with recipes for cake batter but I bought the boxed stuff. I used 1 box of mix and baked according to the recommendations on the box. I went by the directions for a “nonstick pan” which is a slightly lower temp (I think it was 325 instead of 350). In hindsight, in the future I would use 1 1/4 or 1 1/3 boxes of mix and here’s why..... Cakes do not bake perfectly flat on top. What I ended up with was a cake that was higher in the middle (above the mold) and lower on the ends (Below the mold). This was actually a pretty easy fix. After the cake cooled in the pan, I took my longest, sharpest knife and ran it across the top of the mold, careful not to cut the mold. I was left with a perfectly flat top, but the ends still were not as high, hence why I would use just a little more batter next time. The cake cut very easily with a good knife. Not too big of a deal because you flip the cake anyways. I used extra icing to fill in the gaps at the bottom. (A tip for flipping- put the cake base or pan right on top of the cake while still in the mold, hold tightly together and flip). 2). How many will it serve? That largely depends on the portions you cut but the #5 easily gave 10 good slices. Some people make a layer cake out of these so if you need to serve more people you could go that route and cut skinnier slices). 3). How the heck do you get edging icing inside the tiny crevices???? I had to be creative here and leaving the inside without a border was not an option in my eyes. So I got out a small sheet of wax paper and made lines of edging to match the areas I couldn’t reach with my piping bag. I put the sheet with the edges in the freezer for about 10 minutes and when I took them out I cut sections to size and used a needle-shaped baking tool to spear the pieces and carefully place them inside the crevices. I hope those tips are helpful to someone else. I had a heck of a time getting ONE cake base for this size. The 12” would have been too small and every store was out of the 14”. Maybe a bakery would just give you one if you asked but I ended up putting my cake directly on a carrier and served it that way (bought it at Michaels).