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Cake Tins & Baking Tools: Buying & DIY Guide
Dessert is the way to any partygoers heart. Whether you're hosting friends and family over for a heartfelt dinner, attending a friendly gathering or simply craving a sweet treat, we have you covered on all things cake tins and baking tools for you to create your baked desserts. From cupcake and muffin pans to create serving sized treats to cake tins in a range of shapes to accommodate your recipe, you can find what you need right here at Spotlight.
Let's go through our favoured cake tins and bakeware and how to recreate our favourite specialty cakes for your next event.
Quick Links
- A Guide On Cake Tin And Baking Tools Materials
- Great Value And Traditional Cake Shapes
- Create Eye-Catching Designs With Shaped Cake Tins
- Baking And Cake Making Tips And Tricks
- Celebrate Milestones: How To Make A Number Cake
A Guide On Cake Tin And Baking Tools Materials
When expanding your repertoire of cake tins and baking tools, you may be overwhelmed by the varying materials and forms of cake tins. Here are some of our favourite cake and baking tins unpacked:
Material | |
Aluminium | One of the most common cake tin materials, aluminium conducts heat very well and ensures even cooking results. |
Stainless Steel | Long-lasting in their design, stainless steel cake tins are durable in their construction and are also very easy to clean. |
Non-stick | Streamlining your cooking process, non-stick cake tins are easy to use and prevent your cake from sticking to the pan. They are also just as easy to clean with minimal batter residue left behind after baking. |
Silicone moulds are typically lightweight and flexible in their designs. This material is great for creating smaller baked treats as they allow you to pop your creations out of the mould with ease. |
Great Value And Traditional Cake Tin Designs
Cake tins are available in a wide range of shapes and sizes to accommodate your recipe needs. You can find a wide assortment of cake tins including:
- Square and rectangle cake tins feature an increase in surface area and provide adequacy in browning and crisping. The straight edges and corners make these tins great for a range of desserts including brownies and slices.
- Round cake tins are the most common when baking birthday and wedding cakes. These round cake tins are also great for creating tall, layered cakes.
- Springform cake tins feature a springform lock and a removable base that ensures an easy release, helping you to seamlessly remove your cake from the pan.
The right cake tin makes all the difference in your baking process. They can help you recreate intricately shaped cakes with limited need for re-shaping, saving you time in the kitchen. They can create elegant shaped cakes such as bundt cake tins with a swirling, geometrical design that results in a fluted doughnut-shaped cake. Shaped cake tins are particularly great for children's birthday parties.
For example, you can use varden cake tins to create princess cakes, with the cake forming the base of a princess gown. With this cake base you can then insert the doll of your choice and use coloured icing to decorate the cake with cheerful designs. Check out our Little Bo Peep and Frozen dolly cakes for inspiration on how to recreate these baked treats.
Baking And Cake Making Tips And Tricks
Whether you're a beginner baker or an expert in the kitchen, chefs of all skill levels can benefit from learning tips and tricks about cake baking.
How To Line Cake Tins
In order to evenly fill your cake tin, you should first make sure that your cake tin is properly prepared for baking. Lining your cake tin with baking paper helps to prevent your cake from sticking to the sides of the pan so that you can remove your cake with ease. Learning how to line cake tins with baking paper is easy once you get the hang of it! First, you should first apply a thin layer of grease, such as butter, and add a little bit of flour. Tap the tin to move the flour around the base of the cake tin. This helps to keep your baking paper in place once applied to your cake tin.
Make sure to measure your parchment paper so that it will cover the entirety of the base and sides of your cake tin. You can do this by positioning the bottom of the cake tin on top of your laid-out baking paper and folding this paper up the sides of your cake tin. Once you've measured the right size of required baking paper, place it into your pan, gently pressing down the base and the sides to keep it in place.
How To Line Cake Tins With Baking Paper: Round Cake Tins
Round cake tins may seem more complicated to line, however there's a handy trick that helps you line this cake tin with ease!
- Take a piece of baking paper and fold it longways
- Fold it again short ways to create a square shape
- Fold the corner across on a diagonal for a triangle
- Fold this triangle in half
- Line it up against your cake tin, with the smallest point of the triangle in the middle
- Cut off the excess and unfold to reveal a circle piece of baking paper
- Cut off rectangular strips of baking paper, making sure it's enough to wrap around the side of the cake tin
- Using the same greasing technique highlighted above, butter your cake tin and press down your baking paper to make sure it stays in place.
How To Fill Cake Pans Equally For Layer Cakes And Cupcakes
If creating a layered dessert with two cake layers of the same size, you should ensure you have evenly divided your batter across your cake tins. This is also ideal when baking cupcakes and muffins to ensure they are the same size once baked. Using a liquid measuring cup, the measurement indications on the side allow you to evenly distribute your batter between cake tins or muffin pans.
Some bakers may instead prefer to weigh the cake batter before filling the cake tins. Firstly, before preparing your batter, weigh your bowl while it's empty. Then once filled with cake batter, put it on the kitchen scales again. Subtract the bowl's weight to determine how much your cake batter weighs. Divide this number by the number of cake tins you're working with and evenly pour this final weight into each tin, periodically checking the bowl against the kitchen scale to ensure even distribution.
Importance Of Cooling Your Cakes
Cakes are quite fragile when hot. Taking it out of the pan or beginning to ice the cake before it has cooled down can cause cracks and breakages to form in the cake. You should typically wait around 10 minutes for the cake to cool down inside the pan before removing and transferring it to a cooling rack - though this will depend on your recipe's specific instructions.
Allow the cake to cool at room temperature out of direct sunlight. The total cooling time can vary depending on the size of your cake. Smaller baked treats may take around 30 minutes to cool while thicker and taller cakes may take several hours. Once cooled, you can then begin decorating! Check out our cake decorations and our cake decorating tools buying guides for more tips and inspiration to help you decorate your cakes with ease.
Reshaping Cakes
Standard cake tins such as square and round tins are also incredibly versatile in their designs. Not only do they result in easy-to-decorate cakes where the possibilities are endless, they can also be smoothly reshaped into your intended cake design. Using a cake knife, you can alter the cake into whatever shape your recipe requires! No matter the cake shape you're after, you can use round, rectangle and square cake tins to create a wide range of shapes.
For example, if you wish to create a heart-shaped cake but don't have access to a heart-shaped cake tin, fear not! Round cake tins are here to save the day. Our Valentine cake project takes you through everything you need to bake and decorate a tiered, heart-shaped cake. Firstly bake a cake in a round cake tin. Once cooled, remove the cake from the pan. Use a serrated cake knife to create two diagonal cuts at the top of the cake, creating the point of the heart. Reposition the two rounded off-cuts to the opposite end of the cake to form the rounded top. You're now free to decorate your new heart shaped cake as you desire!
Celebrate Milestones: How To Make A Number Cake
Create a number cake to mark a milestone in your or your loved one's life. Number cake tins make baking number cakes a breeze! Often number cakes can be difficult to re-shape, however number cake tins allow you to easily fill the cake tin, removing the need for slicing or reshaping your cake. We'll take you through how to recreate this number 2 cake with your cake tins.
With A Number Cake Tin:
To bake a number cake, simply prepare your cake batter as you usually would. Then carefully and evenly pour the batter into your chosen number cake tin. After baking, make sure to wait for the cake to cool before removing from the pan and decorating.
Without A Number Cake Tin:
Don't have a number cake tin on hand? Using a round and loaf tin, you can recreate the number cake with ease. Once baked and cooled, empty the cakes from each tin. Use a cookie cutter to cut a circle out of the middle of the round cake. Now that you have your outer circle, cut out the bottom left quarter. Flip this upside down to form the bottom curve of the 2. Then with the cake from the loaf tin, position this at the bottom of the curve to complete the 2.
Cake And Bake Tins For Your Recipe Requirements
Preparing for a birthday party, or simply wanting to bake a cake to satisfy your sweet treat craving? At Spotlight, we have all the tools you need to create delicious baked goods. For more baking tips and tricks, read through our article on seven baking essentials for more guidance when it comes to cake baking! Shop online or at a Spotlight store near you and discover a wide variety of cake tins and baking tools to elevate your kitchen toolkit!
