Deep cake tin

Rich fruit cakes that require a long baking time are best baked in these tins made of heavy tinned steel rather than lighter aluminium. (If you do have an aluminium tin, however, you can insulate the tin by wrapping it on the outside in thick brown paper.) The base may be fixed or loose, and on some loose-bottomed tins it is made from a double thickness of metal with air space in between. This helps insulate the base of rich cakes, preventing them from burning before the centre is baked.