An apparatus for making an expanded food product from a starch-containing raw material includes a heatable pressure-baking and expansion mold and a raw material supply system. The heatable pressure-baking and expansion mold comprises at least one movable mold element connected to powered driving system that moves the mold element upwardly and downwardly in a vertical direction. The raw material supply system comprises a sliding plate system for transporting a given quantity of raw material from a raw material source into the mold. The driving system comprises a hydraulic cylinder directly attached to the mold element. The vertical axis of the mold element and of the hydraulic cylinder falls substantially along the same vertical line. The hydraulic cylinder is connected to a central high-pressure oil feed line of a hydraulic oil pressure generator system that continuously delivers oil at a constantly high-pressure to the hydraulic drive cylinder. The hydraulic cylinder is connected to a central oil return line which flows the utilized oil back to an oil reservoir of the oil pressure generator.