Personalized baking pans

[Matt Ghias]

Hi all,
my apologies if i am posting this in the wrong section. i hope i am not.

had a question and need some feedback. My sister is an avid baker and was telling me about her frustration that she gets order to bake specific/personalized cakes but often she struggles to find the right pan for her client's cakes. And trying to make the shapes all from scratch takes a lot of time and isn't a perfect process. So she's asked me to make a few silicone pans for her with my 3D Printer.

it got me thinking that I could perhaps turn this into a little side business..

Do you ever find yourself struggling to find baking pans? What do you do? Do you think my sister's frustration is something that most bakers also experience and if there was a service that would design them any pan they'd need, they'd be happy?

Do you think this is an idea that could be a viable little business or do most people just make their cakes shapes from scratch?

I'd appreciate any feedback.

 

[Diane Lane]

@Matt Ghias I have used silicone baking mats, but not actual pans. I have seen some, but am not sure how well they hold up. I do think that there's a market for anything personalized these days, and especially unique shapes might be popular. One thing I look for when I'm buying a pan or other product in an unusual size or shape is cooking or baking instructions, and perhaps in that respect, you and your sister could team up to develop baking instructions if you did create unusual shapes and/or sizes.

Here's an example of something unusual I just purchased, and before I bought them, I made sure that I would be able to find at least a few recipes to use with them, since I'm not expert enough to feel comfortable tweaking a different recipe on my own to fit this size and style of pan.