Product Review: Reynolds® FunShapes™ baking cups

I was contacted by a terrific PR firm, Hass MS&L - Public Relations, and asked if I would review a product for Reynolds. I was more than happy to accept and here's how things went.

Upon receiving the cups and opening the first thing that I took note of was that there were no recipes included. They do give a web address on the back of the box and an 800 number that you can call to request recipes but, not everyone has internet access and personally, when I purchase a product it's usually for immediate use. A recipe or two included with the product would go a long way in helping the consumer make the most of these.

They are also obviously a single-use product. I think I had a different idea when I saw them the first time on the website. Be careful not to handle the empty cups too heavily, they are thin and lose their shape easily if you aren't careful. No matter, they are really cute and we plan to make the most of them!

I received 3 different shapes; stars, hearts and eggs. Since we are two days away from Easter we chose the eggs today. I used a boxed cake mix for ease of use and also because it's most likely what most consumers would use nowadays.

I balked a little at the directions on the back of the box stating to simply set the ungreased cups on a baking sheet and fill half-full. I really wanted to grease them first (with a cooking spray) but I also wanted to follow directions to see exactly how well they would work.

Half-full was a little too full for the batter I used since it was thicker and that makes it harder to really see if there is batter only halfway up the sides of the cups. They baked quickly like any cupcake would and I was really surprised that they came out of the cups easily.

I frosted some still in the cups and I also removed some and frosted the bottoms since they were really smooth and pretty that way. A white ganache would look nice on them and give them the look of an expensive dessert.

The kids decorated them and they all thought they were great-and they're the ones we buy these things for anyway, right? One of the kids noticed that 5 of the eggs, inverted from the cups make a really cute butterfly shape when put together correctly. (One in the center and two on each side-point in-one towards the top and one towards the bottom.) Forgive the lousy photos!

They are a bit larger than a cupcake so if you are feeding smaller appetites, keep that in mind.

Bottom line? I'd buy them. Most likely for special occasions and not everyday use. Since I still have a few kids in school and I have a lot of functions to provide treats for, I can see these coming in handy!