How to Choose a Baking Pan for Cakes, Tarts and Puddings
From the MolalaCook kitchen · 烘焙手記
How to Choose a Baking Pan for Cakes, Tarts and Puddings
按食譜揀選烘焙模具
A chiffon cake needs walls it can climb. A chilled cheesecake needs a ring you can lift away. Match the pan to what you’ll bake and how you’ll turn it out.
Compare the pans ↓
Start with the recipe you’ll make twice
If you’re buying your first cake pan, pick the recipe you want to bake twice. A 6-inch chiffon and a 6-inch cheesecake sound as though they could share a tin. The chiffon needs a surface it can climb and hang from as it cools. The cheesecake needs a way out of the pan without turning its soft top upside down. That difference matters more than the diameter printed on the box.
Choose by bake 按用途揀模
Butter cakes and layer cakes
A light-coloured, straight-sided metal cake pan in the size your recipe specifies is a useful first buy. A fixed base holds thin batter, and a circle of parchment on the bottom makes it easier to turn out the cooled layer.
Chiffon cake
Look at the centre of the pan in the recipe photo. Our classic six-inch chiffon uses a 15 cm tube pan about 7 cm tall. The batter grips the ungreased walls and centre tube as it rises. Cool the cake upside down in the pan so it holds its height. In the shop, choose the 6-inch mould with the tube insert. There’s also a 6-inch extra-high option on the same page.
Cheesecake
A springform pan opens around the chilled cake. That’s handy for a biscuit base that might crack if you tried to flip it. The TIGERCROWN springform pan comes in 12, 15 and 18 cm. If the recipe uses a water bath, check its pan instructions before choosing. Water can seep through the join in a springform base. A one-piece tin keeps the water out.
Hong Kong egg tarts
Each cup supports the pastry all the way up the sides, so you can fill the shell with liquid custard and carry it to the oven. In our Hong Kong egg tart recipe, the dough is pressed into fluted aluminium tart moulds. An open-bottom tart ring needs a baking sheet underneath and a shell that seals the base. It’s a different setup from the individual cups in this recipe.
Puddings and jellies
A soft custard you eat with a spoon can stay in its cup. A pudding you want to turn out needs to set firmly enough to support itself. For our capybara chocolate pudding, the flexible silicone mould peels away from the little ears and paws. Set the empty mould on a small tray before filling it so you can move it to the fridge without squeezing the sides.
From the recipe videos
See the tube pan in use
Follow the classic six-inch chiffon from batter to cooling. Look for the ungreased centre tube and the way the pan is inverted.
✦Can I bake a 15 cm cake in an 18 cm pan?+
Measure across the inside of the pan and check the depth. For two straight-sided round pans with solid centres, an 18 cm base has about 44% more area than a 15 cm base. The same batch of batter will sit only about two-thirds as deep in the larger pan. You’ll get a shallower cake, and it can finish baking earlier. Start checking for the recipe’s doneness cues before its stated time.
✦Does that size calculation work for a tube or fluted pan?+
That calculation is useful for plain round layers. A centre tube takes up space, and a fluted or sloping pan has a different capacity again. For a first attempt at chiffon, stick to the specified shape and size. For small tarts, compare the width and depth of one cup. A deeper cup takes more custard even when its rim looks the same.
✦Do I need to buy a new tin for every recipe?+
the recipe’s inside measurements, how the bake comes out, and whether the whole pan fits your oven rack. If the pan you own already meets all three, use it. For a new pan’s first wash, see how to clean and care for baking pans and moulds.
Bakeware in this guide
6-inch chiffon pan with tube
Select the tube insert for the classic six-inch chiffon.
TIGERCROWN springform pan
Choose 12, 15 or 18 cm to match your recipe.
Hong Kong egg tart moulds
Fluted aluminium cups support individual pastry shells.
Capybara silicone mould
For a pudding firm enough to turn out onto a plate.
