What can I do with ZANDA PANDA Molds?
| Traditional Baking |
No-Bake Backwards Cake | Party Time! |
Appliqués | Pie & Tart Toppers |
Cookies|
We feel confident that Zanda Panda molds will be the most versatile bakeware you'll ever own.
They can be used for traditional baking, cold molded desserts such as gelatin and ice cream and also for
many arts & crafts and children's projects.
TRADITIONAL BAKING
Heavier textured cakes are great for Zanda Panda molds, however, boxed cake mixes or your favorite ‘scratch’ recipe will work beautifully as well.
For best results with all molds, lightly coat interior of mold with melted vegetable shortening (Crisco) and dust with flour or cocoa, then prepare batter as usual (we do not recommend baking sprays or sprays that contain flour).
Unicorn Mold: Lightly coat interior of mold with melted vegetable shortening (Crisco) and dust with flour or cocoa, then prepare batter as usual. Use two boxes of your favorite cake mix (or equivalent for cakes made from scratch). Place Unicorn mold on cookie sheet and use during filling, baking and to transport to and from oven. Bake at 325 degrees fahrenheit
/ 165 degrees centigrade / gas mark 3 for about 1 hour and 25 minutes or until toothpick or skewer inserted in center comes out clean. For best results, don't flex the mold until it has completely cooled - or you can just open the oven door slightly and allow cake to cool completely in oven. For very light, fluffy cakes, you may wish to freeze the cake slightly before removing from the
mold.
Demold: Using floss or
a plastic utensil, trim cake level with (open) top of mold. To remove cake from mold, place serving plate over open mold. Flip mold and plate over together. Starting at rim, gently loosen the mold from the detailed areas of the cake, with a slight outward, then upward motion, working your way around the cake, then gently demold.
Kaleidoscope Heart mold: Brush interior of pan with a light coating of melted vegetable shortening and dust with flour. We do not recommend baking sprays, as some can leave a gummy residue on pans. Prepare batter as usual. Bake at 300°F / 150 °C / gas mark 2 (slow oven) for 50-60 minutes for 1/2 box of mix (or equivalent), about 75 minutes if you're using all the batter at once. Cake is done when it begins to pull away from the sides of the mold. For best results, open oven door a bit and allow cake to cool completely in oven before removing. If desired, glaze or dust with confectioners sugar.
Can also be used as a cookie mold (see below). For very elegant ice cream sandwiches, fill two cookies with your favorite ice cream, frozen yogurt or sorbet or make adorable heart-shaped mini sandwich cookies! Please see our Cookie Video for more info!
Kaleidoscope Butterfly Topper: You can bake cookies right in the mold for the best detail, or press the dough in, pop it out and place on a cookie sheet as individual cookies, using the whole design or just an individual element, such as a butterfly.
You can also make embossed pie crusts with the Butterfly Mold.
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'NO-BAKE BACKWARDS CAKES' and CAKE TOPPERS
For a memorable and truly impressive dessert, give one of these spetacular, yet surprisingly easy
cakes a try. These cakes utilize a chocolate or
confectionary coating that picks up even the
most intricate details of the molds and can be gilded with edible ‘metallic’
powders. Recipes are also included for a version that kids can make all by
themselves using edible clays. You'll find complete
directions on the 'NO-BAKE BACKWARDS CAKES' page!
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PARTY TIME!
Party activities are fun and easy with Zanda Panda. Have a Decorate-Your-Puppy-Cookie activity at a child's party. They can decorate their Puppy Cookie to look like their family pet or favorite breed!
Or make embossed sandwiches for a Butterfly-Themed Tea Party, sure to delight adults and kids alike. We recommend Nutella and thinly sliced strawberries for a child's tea party.
Kids also love decorating their
own cupcakes with appliqués, tubed icing, sprinkles and shot. Or try decorate-your-own
cast paper party favor boxes with glitter,
'jewels' and acrylic paints. Lollipops are also a perennial favorite.
For lollipops, paint chocolate or confectionary coating into a round container or onto
wax paper to desired thickness. Attach decorative appliqué and a lollipop stick
with additional chocolate or confectionary coating. For cupcakes or other baked goods,
attach appliqués with icing. Add sprinkles, shot or edible glitter if you want
to add a little more pizzazz. Simple appliqué instructions below.
Butterfly Cupcakes. Top with butterfly appliqués made of fondant, chocolate or confectionary coating.
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Appliqués
Make cast paper appliqués and attach to papercrafts for notecards,
bookmarks, scrapbooking, etc. Please see the Cast Paper page for more info.
Use your Kaleidoscope Heart and Butterfly molds to make pins, pendants, and appliqués for trinket boxes, hair ornaments, refrigerator magnets and other crafts! See our Polymer Clay Pin Demo!
Polymer Clay Heart & Butterfly Pins
Trinket box with butterfly appliqué is filled with butterfly soap. Great hostess gift or party favor!
Make appliqués of chocolate or confectionary coating to decorate treats such as cakes,
cupcakes, lollipops and cheesecake. Use chocolate,
confectionary coating or edible clay to fill decorative areas of the mold. Pop appliqué out of the mold and apply to the baked
goods or other treats that you wish to embellish.
For adding decorative appliqués to pies and tarts, please see the next section,
"Pie and Tart Toppers".
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Pie and Tart Toppers
Strawberry Pie with Embossed Butterfly Crust Topper
Deep Dish Upside Down Apple Pie with a Puppy on Top!
 Upside-Down Cherry Pie with Embossed Hearts
Blueberry Lattice Butterfly Pie
There are several ways to make decorative, embossed crusts on pies; you can create a 'Topper' by pressing dough into the base of the mold (decorative area) and placing mold in the freezer for a few minutes. Then place on top of pie and peel mold from crust. For complete directions, See the Demo.
Or make an 'Upside Down Pie' by pressing dough into the mold, filling shell, then adding a top layer of dough (which will become the bottom crust). Invert onto serving plate when cooled.
You can also press some of the crust dough into just the decorative
area of the mold (e.g. butterfly) to make appliqués. Place them on the top crust of the pie or tart and gently press edges to adhere (moisten slightly with water if needed). Or bake them separately and place decorative pieces on pies after baking (works nicely on custard pies).
You can paint the designs with a mixture of cream or egg yolks and food coloring
before baking if desired.
Use pre-made (unbaked) crusts or make your own:
Basic Pie Crust Recipe
1 cup vegtable shortening
2 2/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
7-8 tablespoon ice cold water
Mix flour and salt thoroughly in bowl, cut in shortening with a pastry cutter or fork
until dough is the size of small peas. Sprinkle water on a tablespoon at a time, gently
mixing with a fork until moistened.
Gather crust into a ball, divide in half and lightly shape into two flattened balls.
Roll bottom crust about two inches wider than the size of the top of the pie plate
(turn it upside down to determine size). Fill with favorite fruit filling. Roll out
second half of crust. Place top crust on, roll top edges over edges of bottom crust
and crimp.
Bake at 425° for 40 to 50 minutes, until crust browns and filling begins to bubble out.
Yield: enough for one 9-10", two crust pie.
TIP: The two most important tips for a great pie crust are to use ice
water and to mix and handle the dough as little as possible after the water has been added.
Tart Dough
2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1 cup chilled butter, cut into small chunks
1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water
Thoroughly mix salt, sugar and flour. Cut chilled butter into flour mixture. Add ice
water a tablespoon at a time. Roll into a ball and chill for 2 hours.
To bake an unfilled crust, line tart pan with dough, prick bottom with fork,
line with foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans to keep crust shape.
Bake at 350° for 25 minutes, remove foil and pie weights. Bake for an additional
10 minutes, until golden brown. Cool completely before filling.
Yield: enough for two 9-10", one crust tarts (or lots of small tarts).
COOKIES
Something New!
Handmade Stoneware Cookie Molds!
My New molds are made for baking and crafts. Each cookie mold is individually handmade in my studio in Connecticut. To create these designs, clay is hand-formed around my original sculptures. The clay is then kiln fired twice to produce the food-safe stoneware mold. Dishwasher safe or hand wash.
New Designs for Handmade Stoneware Cookie/Craft Molds
Handmade Stoneware Halloween Cookie/Craft Molds and Pumpkin Spice Cookies
You can find more of my cookie mold designs and other gifts in my Etsy Shop.
Zanda Panda Silicone Molds can also be used for making decorative cookies. Use your favorite low-rising cookie recipe (sugar or shortbread work very well). Lightly dust interior
of mold with flour. Roll a portion of the dough into a ball and press into a decorative
area of the mold. Drop dough out of mold, trim edges with a toothpick.
Dough can be painted with Egg Yolk Paint before baking
by mixing one beaten egg yolk with 1/4 tsp Water and food coloring. Alternatively,
colored glazes can be used after baking by mixing confectionary (powdered) sugar
and flavoring with milk, water or juice.
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