We must be fully recovered from holiday baking burn-out (and that New Year's resolutions to avoid chocolate) because this cute new Nordic Ware pan being sold by Williams-Sonoma has us itching to make a batch of brownies. What about you?
We love the idea behind this pan - kind of a food fake-out for chocolate lovers. Brownies baked in this pan would make a fun cake-alternative for a birthday or special celebration. Plus, unlike many other fanciful cake pans from Nordic Ware, we like that no further frosting or further decorating is required!
We wonder if the "chocolate" lettering would really be legible or even visible in the final cake, though. Without it, you'd lose most of the fun of using this pan over a regular pan!
What do you think - cool idea or just silly?
• Chocolate Bar Brownie Pan, $29.95 from Williams Sonoma
Related: Good Product: The Batterfinger
(Image: Williams Sonoma)
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these pans aren't "from" wiliams sonoma. they are from nordic ware and are generally available in many stores, including amazon. sometimes WS has an exclusive deal with nordicware for a short time, but i hate that they get credit for making them. Nordic Ware has a -ton- of innovative bakeware.
I like this pan! It would be fun for a potluck or something. No one would as you what you brought!
I bet the lettering would be legible if you baked something dense enough, like brownies, and it didn't stick.
I wonder what would happen if you poured melted chocolate up to the first indentation of the chocolate tier, and then poured the batter over that. Best case scenerio would be that the chocolate firmed up when cool, and kept the lettering intact on top and remained separate but fused to the brownie.
A firm chocolate gelatin type dessert might also work. You could also pour in melted chocolate in the top part of the type that doesn't get that hard, wait for it to cool, and then fill the rest with softened ice cream and then unmold when frozen.
If you read the reviews on the website, you'll see that most of the writers had good results with the lettering and detail (a few did not).
I like it, if I had the disposable income. For now, though, my eyes are set on the Baker's Edge pan.
I think cookwarejunkie had a smart idea with the gelatin suggestion. You could do an ice box cake with this that would look great.
Oofs, thanks for pointing out the distinction about W-S carrying Nordic Ware. I've adjusted the text to be more accurate.
And yes, excellent ideas for the gelatin and ice cream cake! It makes me daydream of summer garden parties...
I'd never want to cut the pieces, though, and ruin the shape and wording...but only 12 brownies, from a pan that size? Ugh.
So fun. I like it!
www.nicodemusgreen.etsy.com
I also prefer the baker's edge pan. It seems to me one is stuck pretty much baking choco things in this pan. Even those with disposable income may not have so much "disposable" storage space.
Also you can do mini no bake cheesecakes in it. Pour melted chocolate on top, let it cool, and then pour your cheesecake mixture over it and sprinkle the top with chocolate wafer crumbs and cool to set. Unmold and you should have chocolate covered cheesecakes. Would be fun to also layer no bake desserts with fruit puree like raspberries and then the chocolate layer on top.