Whatever Happened To Betty Crocker's Bake'n Fill?

If you came of age in the early 2000s or were a college kid who spent a lot of time procrastinating before final exams, you probably remember the Betty Crocker Bake'n Fill, a multi-cake-pan tool that promised "the most fun thing you can do with the inside of a cake."

Launched in 2004, the four-piece set included a bowl-shaped cake pan that allowed you to "fill" your cake with ice cream, gelatin, fresh fruit, or even another Betty Crocker cake mix flavor (a move that feels a bit like the baking equivalent of a Thanksgiving Turducken). The possibilities were endless, and the kitschy infomercial for the Bake'n Fill, with its 1980s pastel colors and footage of an aggressively aflame Baked Alaska, is etched in the millennial psyche like some early 2000s fever dream.

Sadly, like other "As Seen on TV" gadgets and discontinued Betty Crocker cake mixes, you can no longer purchase the Betty Crocker Bake'n Fill unless you're willing to surf the net for a retro secondhand version. But while it may be one of the many kitchen and food products that have been discontinued, it is not forgotten.

It's unclear when and why the Bake'n Fill was discontinued. But it doesn't matter because its legacy lives on social media. Spurned by the revival of all things Y2K, the Betty Crocker Bake'n Fill maintains a cult following online. Scroll through TikTok, and you'll find videos of people who've purchased the baking sets at thrift stores or from eBay and are living their childhood dreams by creating their own filled cakes.

Nostalgia aside, it's easy to see why people are still obsessed with this baking set. Unlike other novelty kitchen products, which are often awkward and unnecessary (Slotdog, we're looking at you), the Betty Crocker Bake'n Fill delivers on its promise and seems relatively easy to use. You simply pour your cake batter into the dome-shaped pan and then pour the remaining batter into the flat pan, providing the dome's base (or "lid"). Once baked, you'll fill the dome basin with your favorite filling, add the flat cake layer, flip right side up, and serve. You can also use the second, smaller dome-shaped pan to create the filling. For example, you can use it as a jello mold or as a pan to bake a different cake flavor.

In addition to being accessible to novice bakers, the Betty Crocker Bake'n Fill is versatile. While some people on TikTok use it to create nostalgic combinations, like using sprinkle cake mix and filling their cakes with ice cream, other users go the gourmet route. For example, one made a matcha cake filled with coconut white chocolate pastry cream. You could even attempt the fiery Baked Alaska from the infomercial if you feel brave.

If you can't get your hands on one of these iconic baking sets, you can still make something similar at home with a surprise cake recipe, which involves making a layer cake and using a cookie cutter to make a round, hollow space in the middle layer which can then be filled with whatever your heart desires. While you won't experience the nostalgia of owning a Betty Crocker Bake'n Fill, you'll still get the thrill of cutting a cake to reveal something even more delicious inside.