“If you enjoy baking, but don’t like lining and greasing your bakeware then Wilton Cake Release is just for you” I know I’m not the only one out there who will admit to being a bit of a lazy baker and if there are shortcuts available, I’m at the front of the queue. But this is some claim for any retailer to make and frankly for £3.99 I wasn’t expecting much when I bought this in their new Westfield Stratford store. In all my years of baking (and I started early) I’ve never found a quick way of greasing, dusting or lining my cookware, well one that actually delivers good results. That is, until now. Without sounding like a Lakeland evangelist this is probably the best £3.99 I’ve ever spent in the kitchen. I can make that claim because I tried it on every tin I own simply because I thought it would fail on something. From Yorkshire pudding trays to mini-muffin pans, sandwich pans to a rather old and tired once non-stick baking sheet. The results were faultless. No burning, no odd taste, and when I gently tipped whatever out, it came without a fight and without pan scratch, scrape or scuff. You may have heard or cooked with Wilton products before – I have used their muffin pans which I bought in TK Maxx. They are American and based in Illinois, founded in 1929, it’s the market leader for all things baking in the US.
The liquid should be shaken well before you use it and a liberal dollop applied to the item you’d normally line or grease. If you’ve not got a pastry brush it works just as well spread with kitchen paper, yes, I tried that too. When you get to the end of the bottle, run it under the hot tap to get the last of the liquid to run out.
It’s not gluten-free but Kosher so hand to know if you’re baking for special diets.
I tested the 16-hole mini muffin pan (rarely used because it’s a pain to grease and flour) with a banana and chocolate chip recipe.
Luckily for me, my speckled brown bananas weren’t thrown away and the office had a perfect muffin breakfast.
The mushroom muffins fell out on the wire rack as if pushed from silicone. Unbelievable. The Lakeland Fairy has done it again.
Banana and chocolate chip muffinsMakes 12 large muffins or 16 mini and a further 6 large
400g (14oz) flour
175g (6oz) brown caster sugar
3tsp baking powder
100 ml (4 fl oz) melted butter, sunflower or maize oil
2 large free range eggs
3 well-ripened, medium-sized bananas
50g (2oz) dark or milk chocolate chips
75 ml (3 fl oz) milk (I used skimmed)
If you’ve not got the Cake Release you’ll need to grease and coat bun trays or line with muffin cases
Method
1. Turn oven to 190c (175c fan)
2. Sieve flour and baking powder into a bowl then add sugar and chocolate chips
3. Blend bananas and milk together if you can as it will make it easier to mix
4. Lightly beat eggs
5. Add wet mixture to dry and fold until flour traces have disappeared.
6. Divide the mixture equally between the cases, leaving space for them muffins to rise,
7. Bake for roughly 25 minutes keeping an eye on their progress. Run a skewer through their centre to check they’re cooked. The skewer must be clean on exit. If not, they’ll need a little longer.
8. Turn out on a cooling rack
Hold The Anchovies Please 