All of us have to start baking at some point in our lives. I started when I was 10 because I have a mom who baked a lot. Even then, we had just 2 cake trays – one was round and the other was heart-shaped. We had no cupcake trays so we never baked cupcakes.
But, that really shouldn’t stop you. Here’s a quick tip on how to bake cupcakes with no cupcake moulds using your Indian spice box – or masala dabba as we call it back home.
– Take out the individual holders inside and clean it if you were using it for your spices
– Dry well with a clean kitchen towel
– LIne evenly with aluminium foil (this is for even baking)
That’s it! Pour your batter 3/4 of the way and play on a baking tray in the oven. You will get perfectly shaped cupcakes of the same size each time and you don’t have to spend on an extra cupcake tray unless you bake very often.
My sis and I also did this for the perfect pound cake we baked when back in Kottayam. We I mentioned, our mom only has 2 trays and both were too big for the amount of batter we had so we improved by using the masala dabba container. We removed the smaller containers from inside), lined it with aluminium foil, and baked as normal.
Where can I find aluminum cups? Please help,I have been looking since long.
hi, that’s hard to answer without knowing where you live, etc. usually, you can find them in utensil stores. it doesn’t need to be aluminium, steel is fine too
Hey..thanks a lot for this awesome tip
What a smart idea! Thanks.
Loved the idea…. I can have real large muffins now 🙂
Grt Idea! I use Idli cups to make cup cakes.
Lovely idea. Thanks.
That's a wonderful idea, now you can have a cake of any shape, just cover any container with aluminium foil and use it..
Hey this is a nice idea. But can we use aliminium wraps in convection mode?
if you can use aluminium trays in convection oven (which I think you can) I think it's fine to use foil as well.
Wonderful idea !!!
Very interesting. Is it because of the aluminium foil wrapping that it is safe to use stainless steel cups in the oven?
steel is oven-safe even otherwise, as long as it's thick enough.
That's a use for your spice box that I've never seen before – but I guess it beats buying something that you would only use once a year.
Nice idea!
sometimes i lurk on your site and find such helpful posts.
this time i have to comment as this post has saved me a great deal of time.
i do have a cup cake tray but it is small and the cake batter is always double. so i always have to wait till the cup cakes are baked and then again bake them spending so much time always.
thanks nags for this post and looking forward to more.
Hey Nags, Can we put steel containers in oven? I was not sure.
suparb idia just last week i hd been to my moms house she said me to take masala box sum how hury i came back home, again i wount for get thanks good tip
wow….!!!!!!Really great idea 🙂
Thats really interesting, never thought of using this.
WOw that's so nice,:)
Good idea,I am always apprehensive to put in steel trays in my oven.I remember someone mentioning to me to use steel trays to make swiss rolls!!
Hi Nags, ur idea is simply brilliant….!!I have a small query: Is it safe to use steel utensils in a convection microwv?? I hv a LG Convection MW & luv cupcakes awesomely, so will it be ok to try this?
Hi, I have the same query..Please let me know..
i am not 100% sure of this since i don't use a convection oven. check with your manufacturer or retailer, maybe?
What a cool idea, never thought of it…I used to steam idlis in these sized katoris before I bought my idli moulds…
What a timely post! I was going to buy a muffin tray this week end.I have been usingmom's cup cake molds that comes with the cake cooker[done on the stove top] and they were tiny..Yayyy!Now I don't have to buy a muffin tray.Will do this your method.
Thanks for the tip 🙂
Can I use steel containers wrapped with aluminium foil and make it in normal cooker
yes you can
Hello nags…….can you tell me what can be used instead of aluminum foil?
maybe butter paper? It’s not easy to manipulate like foil though.