HABA Family Food Stars: Silicone Treat Molds #Review + #Giveaway

Some of my favorite childhood memories took place in the kitchen. I fondly remember my mother allowing me to help her bake and cook, when I was a little girl, and by doing so, it taught be a lot about following directions, and piqued my interest in cooking and baking. It's no surprise that my own little love also enjoys helping out in the kitchen. My husband's family comes from a long line of bakers and good cooks, so it's only natural for B to want to be right there where the mixing and pouring happens. I love having B be my helper in the kitchen. He follows directions well, is excited about what he makes, and the time spent together, creates lasting memories for the two of us, which I will cherish always.

You may remember that we recently received a really neat package of items from HABA, German toy-maker. HABA specializes in creating unique toys for children, many of which are made of wood. You can check out my previous review of HABA's soft play food toys, here, to learn more about their wonderful company.

In with some of the items we received from HABA, were two very special treats for us. HABA just released (for 2014), a line of kitchen 'toys,' which include silicone cake, cupcake, and popsicle molds for the whole family to enjoy! I was so excited to learn that HABA had introduced these wonderful baking/treat-making trays to their customers, and couldn't wait to try a couple of them out.

Our new silicone molds from HABA arrived individually packaged in thin plastic boxes.

Here's a first look at the popsicle mold... I love the colorful photos!

I decided that it would be easiest for us to try out the adorable penguin popsicle mold by HABA, first. The package had some mighty yummy looking popsicles on the insert card! I love the tray shaped mold, and the charming blue color. As I looked over the mold, and picked it up to examine it, I noted that the mold itself was fairly sturdy, which I was glad for. A lot of silicone baking molds are so flimsy, that one wrong move could mean disaster! These molds are strong, and and hold extremely well!

The popsicle mold came with a cute little recipe book. This particular recipe is for fruit pops, made with fruit juice, and real sliced fruit. Couldn't really be much easier to make a fresh fruit treat!

There was also a recipe included for making homemade chocolate ice cream pops!

The molds feature adorable characters- penguins, a shark, and an octopus! The designs are whimsical and sweet, and the pop sticks, are incredible easy to use. Just insert them into the mold, and fill in the hollow areas of each molded character with the mix for your frozen treat!

We made a little video of how fun and easy it was to use the HABA Popsicle Mold to create tasty Pudding Pop Treats!

That was so much fun! The recipe booklet that came with the popsicle mold had recipes to make mixes for pops from scratch, but this time, it was easier for us to use some pudding, and I crossed my fingers that it would work well. B had a great time helping me, and taste testing the pudding as we went along.

Here's what our mold looked like, all filled up, before heading to the freezer. We couldn't wait to give the pudding pops a try!

Waiting for the pudding pops was hard. They were in the freezer for about three hours, before they were completely frozen through. When it was time for the pops to come out, B was so excited, that I thought he might just burst! I asked him which pop he wanted to try first, and he quickly said, 'chocolate octopus!'

Here's the chocolate octopus pudding pop, made in our own kitchen, using the silicone popsicle mold by HABA!

I was so surprised by how quickly, easily, and cleanly the pudding pops just came right out of the mold when I gave the rings a little tug. The plastic pop sticks have little rings on the bottom, which make them super easy and fun for kids to hold onto. The pudding worked very well for making this frozen treat. I can't wait to make some fresh fruit pops, and I also want to try making frozen yogurt pops, with fresh fruit in those, as well. I think vanilla yogurt pops with strawberries may be a special treat for mommy!

The silicone popsicle tray can easily be washed by hand, but it's also dishwasher safe. I popped the tray into our dishwasher, along with the rings, and they washed up beautifully, and are now waiting for us to use them again! I can already tell that we're going to have lot's of fun with this popsicle mold all summer long, and I am so glad to have it!

Cupcake Treat Time!

Along with the cute popsicle mold, we also received an adorable silicone safari cupcake mold, also by HABA.

I couldn't resist selecting the cupcake mold. I don't own any fancy bake ware. I'm not that great of a baker, so I haven't really wanted to try my hand at using cake molds. When I saw the silicone cupcake mold by HABA, however, I wanted to give it a try, because I knew it would be fun for my son, and the mold wells were so small, I figured it would be really hard for me to screw tiny little muffins or cupcakes up.

My little helper, ready to get baking!

The silicone cupcake mold by HABA features six characters/designs, including two lions, a hippo, an elephant, a paw print, and a crown. I love the jungle theme. B's first birthday party was jungle themed, and I so wish that I'd had this cute cupcake mold at the time!

Take a look at these cute cake shapes!

The silicone cupcake mold also came with a little recipe book, including recipes for little cakes, muffins, and custard treats. We decided to whip up a quick cake batter, and use that in the mold tray. Like the popsicle mold, this cupcake mold is sturdy, yet flexible, and won't flop around on you as you use it.

Here we are, mixing up the cake batter...

Chef B is such a good helper!

The directions said to fill each hollow mold about 1/2 way, but I had a slightly different idea in mind for these cakes, so I filled them up close to the fill line, purposefully hoping that they would bake up, over the edge. I'll show you why, in a minute.

B helped me pour the cake batter into the molds, and then I placed the tray into a preheated 350 degree oven, and let the little cakes bake for about 21 minutes.

The cakes are ready!

When the timer went off, I removed the silicone cupcake tray from the oven, and allowed it to rest for a couple of minutes. With my fingers, I gently lifted the little cakes out of the mold, one by one. They just popped right out, so easily, and cleanly- they barely left any cake residue behind, and they had a nice little sheen to them.

Here's our first little friend...

...and here are some of the little cakes, cooling off on a cooling rack.

B and I had so much fun looking at the little cakes, and admiring their shapes. They looked adorable, and delicious, and smelled fantastic! Instead of dipping these cakes in chocolate and decorating them with sprinkles or icing, I decided to carefully cut the cakes down the middle, splitting them open, so we could fill them with frosting. Remember- I filled the cake molds extra full, so that I would have a thicker cake, which would allow me to split them in half.

I used a butter knife to carefully make a split...

Here's Chef B, ready to put the top on his first little cake!

We used pre-made frosting, and filled each little cake, using a piping tip and frosting bag.

We had a blast filling the little cakes with the piping bag. I sort of stink at using that thing, but really, B and I just laughed and laughed, and I think he licked more frosting off of his fingers than he helped squeeze onto the cakes!

Here are a few of the filled cakes... lookin' mighty yummy!

While we worked on splitting and filling the tiny cakes, a second and third batch of cakes went into the oven. By the end of our bake time, we had 18 little cakes, from one cake mix. They smelled so super yummy, and it was incredibly hard to wait until lunch time to try one of these little cuties! The cakes turned out so well! All of the little shapes and characters are adorable!

B was absolutely drooling over our tray of little cakes... I won't lie, I was, too!

We surprised daddy with the little cakes when he came home to have a bite of lunch with us. B was so excited to present the cakes to daddy, and to show him how hard he had worked earlier that morning, to create such a special treat! I was so proud of him for being such a good listener, and a wonderful helper in the kitchen!

When it was time to taste test our little treats, B decided that he wanted to have the lion's paw cake first. So, we plated a couple of them up, so we could share them. Making the cakes this way, and splitting them to be frosted, was a great idea... they looked lovely, and could be eaten by hand, or with a fork.

Scrumptious looking chocolate lion's paw cakes!

The cakes were moist and tasty, and honestly- I sort of can't believe that we made them ourselves!

Using HABA's silicone cupcake mold was wonderful and fun! B and I had such a great time filling it up with the cake batter, filling the cakes, and then eating them, of course. Perhaps the most fun part, though- was seeing B's face, after the cakes were all finished, and when he presented them to daddy. Nothing gives me more joy than to see my little B, proud of his own accomplishments, which makes me one proud mama!

The silicone cupcake mold is also dishwasher safe, and it cleaned very nicely in our dishwasher, the evening after we used the mold. I love that the mold is so easy to use, and I don't have to spray it to death or grease it before using it!

We have had so much fun with these two silicone molds for the kitchen, that we can't wait to add to our collection of kitchen molds by HABA! Check out some of these other great products that we'd love to try...

Jungle Snake Cake Mold

Princess Cupcake Mold

Summer Flower Cake Mold

Water Party Ice Cube Tray

We're going to have so much fun continuing to use our silicone molds from HABA, all summer long! These trays are so much fun, and easy to use, that you'll want to get into the kitchen with your little ones all summer long! Why not start your own Family Food Stars series? B certainly loves to play chef, and pretend that he has his own cooking show. We truly love these wonderful treat trays, and we can't wait to see what HABA will cook up next! These molds are perfect for everyday family fun, and they're so nice to have on hand for last minute family get togethers, for when the kids friends come over to play, or for special treats to offer at a special party or gathering!

Want Them? Buy Them!

Head on over to HABA usa to learn more about HABA, and to browse the entire line of HABA kitchen products. With these wonderful silicone baking molds, you'll be laughing, creating, and enjoying delicious treats with your family in no time! HABA products are sold at several specialty stores, and at some of your favorite online retailers, as well! HABA is social and would love to connect with you, so don't be shy- keep up with them through Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube!

Want Them? Win Them!

One lucky MBP reader will win their very own set of silicone molds from HABA. Winner will receive the Safari Cupcake Mold, and the Silicone Penguin Popsicle Tray just like we received for review. Just use the handy dandy Rafflecopter entry form below to enter for your chance to win! Giveaway is open to US residents, 18 and older.

Special thanks to HABA, for allowing us to try and share about another set of award-winning products, and for making us feel like family food stars of our own kitchen! We also sincerely thank HABA for offering this fun giveaway for our wonderful readers!

Good luck!