using an empty can to bake a cake?

[Urban Ayisha]

I'm making baby a cake for her birthday and the recipe says to use a 793g (1 lb 12oz) can to bake the base in (its a mushroom house, if u can imagine it! bit trippy, i know, but i'm mainly making it for my own pleasure! ) its quite an old book, so i dont know if things have changed and baking in an emptied food can is a big no-no nowadays, as i know you can't store food in the fridge in them once they're opened cos of oxidisation or something? has anyone ever used a can baking? and also, what would come in a can this size?! don't think i've actually ever seen one!

[contadino]

I can't answer your question as such, but if it's any use, I spotted something on instructables about using jars to make cakes in...?

[Millymollymandy]

The big cans of tinned toms that you can buy (at least in France) are about double the normal tin size which I think is usually just under 400g, so I imagine that's the right size. Can you find big tins in England?

[Muscroj]

I would have thought if you lined it with baking parchment then you shouldn't have any problems as the cake mixture won't be 'touching' the tin. But thats only a guess & not based on anything scientificy

[Urban Ayisha]

i guess cos ive never looked for large tins of stuff ive never seen them but went to my asian grocers and found loads of stuff! bought a big tin of mango pulp which will be delicious stirred into cereal for breakfast (my dad advocates this!) and the tin is perfect! and u know, i never thought of lining it with parchment paper but that seems like the best idea for ease of getting it out too! brilliant! sorted!! thanx for your help!
can i just ask though as well, its not really an ish question as such but what about baking a cake in a pyrex bowl? (top of the toadstool). any tips?

[Millymollymandy]

There's no reason why you can't as we all bake puds in pyrex but I've never tried to get one out like a cake! Puds with spongey tops (even though the bowl has been greased) do seem to stick a bit more to pyrex than to a cake tin, especially the modern non stick type of ones. Greaseproof paper won't be very easy to use on that shape either, though I suppose it would be possible if you cut the paper up into smaller sections and brushed it with melted butter to stick it to the sides of the bowl.

[ina]

Some tins seem to be coated with plastic inside - I would be a bit weary of them. Don't know if they can stand the temperatures at baking.

[Urban Ayisha]

here is the cake! i used a big empty tin of mango puree for the base and it was absolutely fine! well proud of myself! it was a brilliant day!

[Millymollymandy]

That is brilliant - well done and I hope that baby appreciated it! At least she'll be able to look back at the photos of her cake in the future.

[Martina]

here is the cake! i used a big empty tin of mango puree for the base and it was absolutely fine! well proud of myself! it was a brilliant day!

That looks fantastic. Well done UA.

Martina

[ina]

Nice one.