Hot or Not: Custom Alphabet/Numbers Cake Pan

Are you the go-to person in your social circles when it comes to birthday cakes? If so, this alphanumeric cake pan might come in quite handy! The pan comes with blocks that can be re-arranged inside the pan to create a mold for any number or letter of the alphabet. What do you think?

If you do bake a lot of birthday cakes - or any custom cake that requires narrow pieces or tiered layers - we can see this pan getting a lot of use. The letters would end up looking a bit digital (is that an "8" or a "B" in the lower left corner?!), but some creative trimming could give the cubes more personality.

On first glance, we were also concerned that the cake would be difficult to get out of the pan in one piece, but then we noticed that the blocks can be removed first. This would allow easier access to the cake. You could also simply invert the cake directly onto the serving platter.

What do you think?

• Alphabet/Number Cake Pan, $39.95 from Fresh Finds (originally spotted on Baking Bites blog)

(Image: Fresh Finds)

Comments (8)

It's a cool idea, although I wouldn't really have a use for it. It does look like they trimmed some corners on the "B" cake to make it look more like the letter than the number.

posted by jamiealyse on April 2nd 2009 at 1:30pm
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I like it! Only if you'll use it a lot though. I am so against stuff that will just collect dust.

posted by Taratootie42 on April 2nd 2009 at 1:31pm
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My fiance's family runs a doll museum. They have birthdays for little girls... and some big ones. Anyway, I think this would add a lot of value to their offerings.

posted by somewhiteguy on April 2nd 2009 at 4:08pm
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I think this would be fun for many different age groups!

posted by nicole612 on April 2nd 2009 at 5:27pm
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if that's a complete set of "pixels", it's substantially more fun than just letters and numbers. What about making space invader cakes for example?

posted by angorian on April 2nd 2009 at 7:06pm
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I'm having nightmares just thinking about how hard it would be to figure out how long to cook the cakes... there would be so many different thicknesses of cake to worry about! I feel like the outside corners of an A would burn long before that connecting middle stretch would cook.

Also, how much batter would each cake shape need? Do you always just make extra? And there would be a different amount of icing required for each shape. Sigh.

I don't even want to think about how you ice those narrow center segments on a B or an 8.

This is really cute though - and you almost got me with the genius idea of space invaders!

posted by fib on April 2nd 2009 at 10:48pm
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I'm torn. I don't bake much so wouldn't use it often, but the price wouldn't make me feel guilty. I do agree about the confusion on baking time, but the ideas for different shapes, modified checkerboards, space invaders, pixel pictures...oh dear.

posted by Jaie on April 3rd 2009 at 8:27am
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uh, why not just bake a sheet cake and cut a little out where necessary after baking? Small amount of waste, but you don't need a fancy pan or uncertain baking time, and it'll be flatter and cook more evenly.

posted by erica on April 3rd 2009 at 11:47am
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