How many layers does this tin need, mum?! – me, 29

I like to think I’m not that bad at cooking but this week I came a cropper. I decided to make a Christmas cake but when it came time to ‘line the tin’, I had no idea what I was supposed to do.

Hmm, maybe I could just not bother with lining? “No,” Twitter told me, “No, no, no. It needs to slow cook. Without lining it’ll burn.” A quick call to my mum (you’re never too old to call your mum for help, right?) and she arrived to show JD and I what to do.

So here it is, a super-detailed, idiot’s guide to lining a Christmas cake tin…

Instructions

What you’ll need

1. Silicon paper (lining paper)
2. Brown paper (like you get from the Post Office)
3. String (not plastic twine, that would melt)
4. A loose bottomed cake tin
5. Butter (to grease)
6. Scissors
7. A felt tip / pencil

Make the inner lining – base

• Pop out the base of the cake tin
• Cut two squares of silicon paper a little wider that the base of the cake tin
• Place the cake tin base on top of both sheets and draw round it
• Cut out both layers together and set the two circles aside

• Use the string to measure the tin circumference
• Measure out a length of silicon paper, 5 cm longer than the tin circumference
• Fold the paper along its length so that you have a double thickness strip 10cm taller than your tin
• On the long folded edge, fold again to create a 2cm lip
• Make diagonal snips all the way along the lip at 2cm intervals

• Replace the tin base and grease the inside of the tin thoroughly
• Push the silicone paper strip for the sides in first – the snipped edges should overlap on the base
• Put the circles into the base so that the inside is completely lined

• Measure a strip of brown paper, 5 cm longer than the tin circumference
• Trim the strip height to 10cm taller than your tin
• Wrap the brown paper around the outside of the tin and fix with a length of string

Cover the top

• Take a square of silicon paper slightly larger than the tin and fold it into quarters
• Snip the folded corner at a 45 degree angle, about 1cm in
• Open up the paper and you should have a diamond shaped hole in the centre
• Fill the tin with the cake mix, then place the square of paper on top just before it goes in the oven