The Near-Death of the Easy-Bake Oven?

Photo: Thinkstock

By Lynn Andriani

The Easy-Bake Oven has been around since 1963, turning out tiny cookies and cakes with the heat from a 100-watt bulb, and inspiring future foodies such as Bobby Flay and pastry chef Gale Gand.

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When Congress decided to ban the energy-sapping bulb, though, Hasbro engineers were faced with a challenge. But kitchen-minded kids (and their parents) can relax: The oven isn't going the way of the Atari 2600. It's evolving--something that's actually very much in the spirit of the Easy-Bake, which has spawned agourmet Easy-Bake cookbook with recipes from famous chefs, recipe sites that include such creations as Wild Mushroom Flan, and even aPC that lets you cook pancakes at your desk(okay, that one isn't real, but wouldn't it be fantastic?).

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The latest incarnation of the Easy-Bake, which goes on sale this fall, has a fancy internal heating element instead of a light bulb, and doors on the left and right sides instead of in front. Such innovations--plus a larger cooking chamber and baking pan--blow the menu of baking options wide open to include cookies, red velvet cupcakes, pizza, pretzels, cinnamon twists and brownie sticks.

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As much as I love the idea of an almost 50-year-old toy getting a modern makeover (and we're nothing if not fans of constant evolution), I think Michelle Paolino, VP of global brand strategy and marketing for Hasbro Girls Brands, put it best. She has strong ties to the Easy-Bake, having played with one as a kid in the early '80s, and she was excited work on the update:  "A lot has changed," she says, "but that feeling of creation is still really relevant today."