Loose bottomed cake tin -is lining a must?

[TheMotherSide]

I've just taken delivery of a cake tin for DC for a Christmas present. The seller's photos made it look like it was a solid base, but now it's here it turns out it's a loose bottom. I'm not going to return it as it's nothing wrong with it -I just saw what I wanted to see when looking at the pictures.

Despite being a fairly proficient baker, I've never used a loose bottomed cake tin before so want to be sure before wrapping it up for DD:
-is it possible to bake a thick-battered cake in a loose bottomed tin without having to go through the faff of lining it?

In a solid tin, I usually just wipe the inside of the tin with butter and dust some semolina around it before dolloping in the batter. Is it possible to do the same in a loose bottomed tin if the batter is dollopy enough? Or will in definitely leak?

If fitted properly it won't leak. I've never had to line mine.

You don’t need to line them if the batter is thick.

I tend to put a circle of greaseproof paper on the base and not bother lining the sides. Don't do much baking though, and they tend to be fruit cakes so the mixture is stiff and wouldn't escape.

So long as it's a good quality one, it should be fine. That said, I do normally put a circle for greaseproof paper just to make it easier to lift it.

Depends on what I'm making. I usually do a circle on the bottom no matter what. But only line the sides if it's a "stickier" kind of cake. I don't treat moose bottomed tons any differently than non loose bottomed.

Aw, thanks! That's a relief as lining tins seems a bit of a reach for me. I'll make sure we puck a dollopy batter cake to start with and might experiment with some nocturnal runnier bakes myself.
Thanks again.

Just buy a pack of cake liners. Really cheap and saves the hassle of greasing or lining the tins.

I've always had loose bottomed cake tins and have never lined them. They've never leaked.

I use cake tin liners too.

I did have a cake that leaked from a loose bottom. 😂
It was a real hassle.

I buy my liners real cheap from B&M Bargains or Lakeland but they’re available from supermarkets too.
Worth keeping a pack of them in the cupboard.

I agree it should be fine without.

however, the lazy way to line a cake tin without cutting careful shapes - turn the tin upside down and press the paper over it, squashing it down so it folds over the tin like a hat. Remove the hat, turn the tin over and pop your ready-shaped paper inside. Easy!

Well, well... cake tin liners! I really had no idea 😂I think we're off to a good start!

I blimmin love cake liners. Poundland and B&M seem to be the cheapest. I use them constantly. Best invention ever!

@Rainbowshit , nice to hear about your moose-bottomed cake tins. Do you have reindeer-bottomed ones for Christmas cake?

😂😂

I also wanted to hear more about the moose bottomed cake @Rainbowshit 😂