6 Baking tins everyone should have and why it makes a difference

Recipe says: ‘Grease and line a 22-cm cake tin’

You: ‘I’ll use a 30-cm tin what difference does it make?!’

Spoiler alert: A big one.

ALSO READ: You won’t believe what the trick is to get cake layers to come out perfectly flat

Baking tin sizes are there for a reason. They have a lot to do with how much a cake rises, how fast it cooks and generally avoiding cake disappointment (which is the worst kind of disappointment there is!). Don’t worry, though there are ways around it that don’t involve buying a baking tin especially for one recipe.

If your baking tin is only 2 cm bigger or smaller than what the recipe asks, then that’s an easy fix!

1. If your baking tin is bigger, it means the batter is shallower so will bake faster and the end result will be dry and overbaked. Simply increase the oven temperature by 5°C and decrease the baking time by a quarter.

2. If the baking tin you have is smaller than the original recipe, the batter will be deeper and take longer to bake so lower the temperature by 5°C and increase the baking time by a quarter to prevent the cake sinking in the middle.

If you’ve just started out baking, or confused as to which tins should be part of your basic baking kit, here’s a list of the most useful and versatile baking tins that will ALWAYS come in handy!

– 2 x 20cm non-stick springform cake tins: the removable bottoms and clip-off rings make removing the cake from the tins so much easier. Two of these will always be useful as you can bake a two-layer cake at once.

– Flat-sided cookie sheet: I wish someone would have told me to buy these earlier on. I’m not really sure why baking sheets have sides to be honest. Once you bake on one without sides, it will change your life.

– 20cm square cake tin: perfect for brownies and bars

– 26cm loose-bottomed tart tin

– Standard 24cm loaf tin for pound cakes and breads

– A 12-hole muffin tin for cupcakes

These below are ‘nice to haves’ and will make your life a lot easier!
– 22cm bundt tin

– 15/17cm springform cake tins: these are perfect to make the trendier taller, thinner cakes that still feed 8-10 people. If using a recipe that asks for a 20cm cake tin, simply lower the temperature by 5°C and increase the baking time by a quarter.

– Silicone baking mats: great for minimizing the amount of single-use baking paper

– Small 8cm tart tins

TELL US IN THE COMMENTS – What baking tins or gadgets can you not live without?