Disney World's Main Street Confectionery
I’m sure it will come as no surprise when I say that the first stop I make during every visit to the Magic Kingdom is the Main Street Confectionery. Just a whiff of the sweet smell inside lets me know that all is well in the universe.
One of my favorite pastimes is watching the cast members in the glass-walled kitchen create the specialties of the house: fudge, cake pops, chocolate-covered pretzels, candy apples, or Mickey-shaped krispie treats. I consider myself a bit of krispie artist, so the creation of these particular treats holds a special fascination for me.
I’ve stopped to watch the giant krispie Mickeys being made dozens of times. I love how they use the exact same Kellogg’s Rice Krispies and Jet-Puffed marshmallows that I use at home. And I’ve loved seeing those well-worn metal molds and wondering how many thousands of Mickeys have emerged from each one.
Sturdy metal Mickey molds.
You can imagine my dismay when I made my usual Confectionery stop during a trip this past fall and saw — instead of the solid, practical metal Mickey pan being used to form krispie treats — a floppy red silicone pan. Quelle horreur!
Red pan instead of a metal pan.
Not long after I noticed the switch at the Confectionery, I started seeing the red pan for sale in the kitchenware sections of all the larger merchandise locations on property.
There's the red pan on the lower left.
Despite my initial skepticism about the ability of pliable silicone to be a firm mold, eventually I decided that if it’s good enough for the Confectionery, then it’s good enough for me. I bought the pan. ($17.95, sold everywhere.) And, of course, I had to put it to the test in my own kitchen.
Giant Mickey Rice Krispie Treat Experiment
My daughter, Louisa, and I got to work whipping up a batch of Rice Krispie treats, following the tried and true recipe on the box.
Ready for testing.
Hot batch of Krispies.
I sprayed the inside of the pan with cooking oil and started to fill.
Starting to Fill
We kept adding more krispies and packed them in firmly, then we waited about 10 minutes for the mash to cool.
Adding Krispies
A quick flip onto a plate and — Voila! — a perfect Mickey krispie treat.
Perfection
I was impressed. The floppy red pan delivered! Emboldened by our success, we decided to proceed with further testing. This time, we’d bake.
Mickey Face Cake Baking Experiment
For the sake of simplicity, we decided to use a boxed cake mix. And as the pan’s packaging suggested, we placed the pan on a cookie sheet for stability and ease of transport from counter to oven.
Louisa prepared the cake batter, and we filled the pan. Per package instructions, we didn’t fill it all the way to the top.
Batter Prep
Filled almost to the top...but not quite
The cake baked for half and hour and emerged a bit puffier than I would have liked. Next time, we’ll use even less batter in the pan.
Baking
Finished Cake
Again, we waited for about 10 minutes of cooling time and then flipped over the pan.
I had been expecting to see just plain cake, that we would then decorate with icing to give Mickey features. We were pleasantly surprised to seeing Mickey’s face smiling back at us, fresh out of the pan.
Mickey smiles back at us!
The combination of the light-colored cake and the pan’s facial indentations allowed us to see Mickey’s expression.
If we had made a chocolate cake, we would have continued with the frosting project; but we liked the unadorned look so much that we decided to serve the cake as-is with a little fruit accompaniment.
It was quite a hit with the entire family.
Results!
After completing two different types of cooking projects, I’m ready to give an enthusiastic thumbs-up to the red silicone Mickey-head pan sold in the parks. I even ran it through the dishwasher without incident.
Now we’re busy plotting how we’re going to use the pan next. Mickey brownies? Mickey ice cream cake?
What do you think we should do next? Let us know in the comments below.
Erin Foster is the Disney Food for Families columnist and a behind-the-scenes guru here at Disney Food Blog! Check out more of her posts here.
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While the red pans may, in function, be a perfectly suitable replacement, they appear to lack the molded structure and detail of the older, metal pans.
Brownies…and maybe a cookie cake…or both. Definitely adding this to my wdw shopping list!
I have the Mickey Muffin pan and have not had great luck with it. No matter how careful I am, the ears always come off while I am removing the muffins. Any advice out there?
I’m glad it worked! I bought the Mickey silicone muffin pan on our last trip but it was an epic fail. There was no way to get the muffin out without mutilating them. 🙁 Now, I’ll have to add the cake pan to my list of Mickey things I must have!
On my list now…thanks!
That looks great… definitely a must buy item when I’m in WDW in a week and a half! (Yay!)
Awesome! I love these silicon pans… I feel like they are so much easier to work with once whatever you are making is done. I can’t wait to use it!
Cool! Now I want one!
how fun! I think I’ll get one too so I can make some mickey cakes for special occasions (or on a regular day!)…. thanks!
Now they need to sell a Mickey waffle press!
Brownies, for sure! And how about one of those giant chocolate chip cookies, would that work? Or maybe you could adapt a recipe for what we called “congo bars” when I was younger, sort of a butterscotch-y concoction with chocolate chips in it. . .
I’m getting hungry.
WOW, that Mickey face is brilliant!! My idea for the next recipe: banana bread! Or mold a Mickey head in ice and float it in the punch for a party!
I am impressed! I’ve always wondered how several of these (including the egg ring) work! I would love to see more on this segment. Thanks AJ!
P.S. – Do you know if the classic Mickey waffle maker exists? I know there is one out now, but it doesn’t have the same indentions for perfect syrup portioning. Maybe we can start a petition!
Joe — True, but it looks like they still deliver great results!
Maria — Love the brownies idea — with frosting!
Cindy and Laura — Bummer! Sounds like the space between the ears and the face might be too small if they keep breaking. Maybe Erin will do an experiment with the Mickey muffin pan next!
Janna, Susan, and Jo — Yay! Always fun to have something “on the list” for the next Disney trip!
Roseanne — Thanks for your feedback!
Marci — Every day with a Mickey cake is a special occasion! 😉
Lebeau — They DO sell Mickey Waffle presses, though they’re not as authentic as Disney restaurants! Scroll to the bottom of our Mickey Waffles post to see details on where to find!
Susanna — The congo bars sound great!
Jenna Z — oh! Banana bread! Great idea! And the ice is so cool! You’re totally catering my next party.
MissMouse — The classic waffle maker was discontinued due to electrical issues. They do have another one out, but it makes flatter waffles. 🙁
the banana bread is a great idea, have you ever tried to make rice crispy treats in the microwave.. faster easier and just as tasty…
I imagine you could put melted almond bark with stir-ins in the Mickey pan, and present it on a platter as a Christmas gift. So sad I missed these while I was at Disney World in January. Guess I’ll have to go back!
You could try it as a jello mold. I think I might need to get one of these!
canadians — I’ll try the microwave trick!
Louise — Wow! Love the idea of melted almond bark!!
Lana — Great idea! I’d love to do some rainbow jello in there!
Jello!
Has anyone every used this silicone mold for anything other than baking/sweets? This might sound nerdy, but we are going to Disney Junior Live soon, and I was thinking of having all three meals that day be Mickey themed. It will be a few years before we can get back to Disney World, so I thought I would make this a whole day of fun. I have a waffler (one of the new, inferior ones) the silicone muffin/cupcake pan, this cake pan and some cookie cutters in various sizes. I am making eggs in the muffin pan to go with waffles for breakfast, using the cookie cutters to make lunch items mickey shaped, and wanted to make something for supper in the cake pan. I imagine that we will end up with sweets at the show, so I wasn’t planning to make dessert. Has anyone tried to make a quiche or a baked macaroni and cheese? (The kind we call “Macaroni Pie” here in the South. It has an eggs and milk base, with cheese and noodles. It cooks up solid.) Any suggestions?