Best cake tins for baking masterpieces

If you're investing in a new cake tin, our testing found you don't need to splash out for the priciest cake tins to get a perfect bake.

We tested the effectiveness of the non-stick coating and how easy each cake tin was to use and clean, as well as comparing the quality of the cakes that each one baked. 

We found one tin that impressed us enough to be named our Editor's Choice. It wasn't the most expensive on test, either. We also found another cake tin for less than a fiver that we reckon is really great value. 

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The best cake tins

Editor’s Choice: Prestige Inspire Carbon Steel Non-Stick Round Springform Cake Tin

Only available at Prestige: £11.98. 

Weight: 520g

Key features: 25-year guarantee, dishwasher-safe

Pros: Non-stick without greasing or lining, easy to clean, durable, smooth springform

Cons: Large pattern in the base of the tin appears on the underside of the cake

Our verdict: Fit for a queen

By far the best in our selection when we tested these cake tins back in November 2021, this springform model from the Prestige Inspire range gets our top recommendation. 

The cakes we baked in this cake tin came out easily, regardless of whether it was greased and lined or not. This is thanks to a combination of the smooth springform action and the slick non-stick surface.

Both of the cakes we baked came out with perfectly golden-brown tops, and were warm, fluffy and evenly cooked throughout.

While we wouldn't advise using wire wool to clean your cake tin, the surface of the tin was so durable that it was even resistant to that. It wasn't as resistant to scrapes from a metal spatula in our second durability test, but none of the tins were.

The only downside, and a minor one at that, is the pattern on the base of the tin. It's large and leaves an imprint on the underside of your cake. Although few people are ever likely to see it.

How the rest of the cake tins we tested fared

Great Value: Asda George Home Extra Deep Cake Tin

Only available at Asda: £3.50.

Weight: 320g

Key features: Five-year guarantee, dishwasher-safe

Pros: Non-stick without greasing or lining, easy to clean

Cons: Cakes came out a little crispy around the edges

Our verdict: Best of the cheaper cake tins we tested

This cake tin from Asda’s George Home range has a simple but effective design, and we think it's great value for money. 

It has taller sides than the rest of our selection and baked us an almost perfect pair of cakes, with or without greased sides and a lined base. 

While the sides of the cake were a little on the crispy side, the sponge was light, fluffy and perfectly moist.

It was also very easy to wash, although when it was cleaned with a ball of wire wool, you could see the scratch marks across it.

However, if you stick to cleaning it with a non-scratch sponge, you shouldn't have an issue.

Here are our verdicts on the other cake tins we tested, in alphabetical order.

AnyDay John Lewis & Partners Non-Stick Sandwich Cake Tin

Only available at John Lewis: £3.

Weight: 125g

Key features: Dishwasher-safe

Pros: Easy to clean

Cons: Needs greasing and lining, non-stick coating wasn't that durable

Our verdict: Nothing to shout about

This cheap and cheerful cake tin from John Lewis & Partners’ AnyDay range works well, but is nothing to shout about. 

In our tests, it produced perfectly golden-brown sponges that were evenly cooked through. 

However, you need to grease and line the tin, or risk losing a large part of the underside of your cake. 

As this is a simple piece of metal with neither a loose base nor springform, you need the grease and lining to get the cake out without damaging the sponge.

It was easy to clean and didn’t take too much of a beating from the wire wool in our durability test. 

The cake tin we bought for our tests also had a flaw in the side where the metal was a tiny bit warped.

Argos Home Pack of 2 Round Sandwich Cake Tins

Only available at Argos: £10.

Weight: 260g each

Key features: One-year guarantee

Pros: Non-stick without greasing or lining, easy to clean, durable

Cons: Cakes come out a little crispy around the edges

Our verdict: Decent, but you can get better for less

This pair of cake tins from Argos are pretty good value for money and they work really well. 

One of the two we purchased had rough edges and the loose base of the tin was very loose. This made it easy to get a baked cake out, but risked spilling mix if violently nudged or picked up from the bottom.

With or without greasing and lining, the cakes were easy to remove and came out undamaged. 

We did find the sides were a bit crispier than most of the others, but the insides were light, fluffy and perfectly cooked. 

They tins were easy to clean and appeared undamaged by the wire wool in our tests. 

Lakeland PushPan Loose Based Cake Tin

Only available at Lakeland: £11.99.

Weight: 287g

Key features: Three-year guarantee

Pros: Strong seal around the loose base, easy to clean

Cons: Needs to be greased and lined, cakes came out a little crispy

Our verdict: Clever design, worth considering

This is a very well made and cleverly designed loose-based cake tin from Lakeland.

The rubber ring around the base prevents the loose base from coming out too easily.

Unfortunately, without greasing or lining with baking paper, most of the underside of the cake stuck to the base and was lost after baking. However, the cake we baked with a greased and lined tin came out perfectly. 

While the cakes we baked were perfectly and evenly cooked through, the second cake came out with a slightly crispy edge.

It was also very easy to wash, but when tested with a ball of wire wool you could see the scratch marks across it afterwards. 

Le Creuset Non-Stick Springform Cake Tin

Cheapest price: £29 available from Amazon, Le Creuset, John Lewis.

Weight: 510g

Key features: Lifetime guarantee

Pros: Non-stick without greasing or lining, easy to clean, smooth springform, heat-resistance clasp

Cons: Cake didn’t appear evenly cooked, non-stick coating wasn't that durable

Our verdict: Almost got the royal seal of approval

This cake tin from Le Creuset was the most expensive in our selection and was close to being a Best Buy.

This springform cake tin is very well made and produced lovely cakes, which were easy to remove with or without greasing or lining. 

While the cakes were cooked through, the second one had a patchy colouring across the surface as if the heat hadn’t spread evenly. 

It was very easy to clean, but the non-stick coating was easily scratched by a ball of wire wool.

MasterClass Non-Stick Cake Tin with Loose Base

Only available at Amazon: £11.98.

Weight: 493g

Key features: 20-year guarantee, dishwasher-safe

Pros: Easy to clean, durable, smooth springform

Cons: Needs to be greased and lined

Our verdict: Good, but wasn't the master of our class

A decent springform cake tin from MasterClass, but there are better ones available for a little less money. 

It's well made, but without greasing or lining the tin, the cake we baked completely fell apart as we tried to remove it. 

However, you won't have any trouble if it's greased and lined first.

The cakes we baked were perfectly golden brown on the outside, and moist, fluffy and light on the inside. 

It was easy to wash and we found no noticeable damage from the wire wool in our first durability test.

ProCook Non-Stick Springform Tin

Only available at ProCook: £9.

Weight: 436g

Key features: 10-year guarantee, dishwasher-safe

Pros: Smooth springform 

Cons: Needs to be greased and lined

Our verdict: Does the job, but not the best

This springform cake tin from ProCook is well made and had a smooth, easy-to-use mechanism. 

It needed to be greased and lined for the cake to come out. Without doing this, we lost most of the cake as it fell apart when we tried to remove it from the base.

The cakes we baked had golden-brown edges and light, soft, moist and fluffy sponges.

It was easy to clean and there was only a little damage caused by the ball of wire wool in our durability test.

Wilko Shotblast Round Cake Tin

Only available at Wilko: £6.50.

Weight: 344g

Key features: 10-year guarantee, dishwasher-safe

Pros: Durable, easy to clean

Cons: Needs to be greased and lined

Our verdict: Works, but not our favourite

This solid cake tin from Wilko is simple and affordable, but didn’t bake the best cakes.

Without being greased or lined, the cakes were very difficult to get out of the tin without ripping apart. However, when the tin was greased and lined, the cakes came out easily. 

The cakes we baked were a little too crispy on the edges, but both sponges were perfectly cooked through. 

It survived our wire wool durability tests without any issue.

How we tested cake tins

To find you the best cake tins, we put our selection through the following series of tests:

Non-stick

To test the non-stick coating, we baked a cake without greasing or lining the tin first. 

Each cake was prepared using the same ingredients in exact quantities and baked on the same shelf in an oven for an identical amount of time.

While we don't recommend you do this at home, the best worked just as well without greaseproof paper or the grease from butter or margarine.

Baking when greased and lined

For this test, we used each tin again to bake a cake, but this time they were lined and greased. 

We used the same type and quantity of margarine and greaseproof paper for each one, and the cakes were baked in the same oven for the same amount of time. 

Burning and evenness of cooking

In this test, we examined each cake we baked to see if they were at all crispy and to make sure they had properly cooked through. 

Ease of use

To test how easy they are to use, our researchers used each one to bake two cakes, and made notes and observations on how easy it was to get the cakes out undamaged. 

We found the best had smooth working parts, which made getting the sponges out very easy, while the worst ones could leave you looking at a pile of crumbs.

Durability

We conducted two tests on each cake tin to test its durability. 

In the first, we washed each one with a ball of wire wool, while in the second we ran the edge of a metal spatula up and down the base of the tin 10 times.

The best ones breezed through these tests, showing few scratches or gouges, but the worst were torn up and unusable by the time the test was over.

Washing

After each tin was used to bake a cake, it was washed in 8 litres of warm water mixed with a teaspoon of washing-up liquid. We washed each one twice for this test. 

Most of them were easy to wash, but some needed a bit more care due to their design, as baked cake mix was stuck in the grooves and indents.

Build quality

To begin, our researchers examined each of the cake tins, checking the quality of welds and joins, looking for any manufacturing flaws and any other issues.

The best in our test were well-crafted, smooth and had mechanisms that worked well and felt durable.

Some of the worst had rough edges, warped sides and other manufacturing flaws.

How we chose the cakes we tested

We tested cake tins from the most popular retailers. The cake tins needed to be 20cm (8in) diameter round tins, as this is what is most commonly asked for in recipes. 

We bought all the cake tins we tested.