1. Fruit cake requires a longer baking time than other cakes, so it’s essential that tin is well lined.
2. Lay out a sheet of greaseproof paper. Measure a strip about 2cm (¾in) wider than depth of tin. To do this, lay tin on its side, against edge of paper, to gauge how much paper is needed. Use a pencil to mark paper. Cut strip using scissors. Ensure that strip that’s been cut is long enough to wrap around tin.
3. Fold over one long edge of strip by roughly 1cm (½in). Make cuts about 2.5cm (1in) apart, along this folded edge, up to folded line.
4. Take another sheet of greaseproof paper and draw a circle around base of tin.
5. Cut out circle. Lightly grease bottom and sides of tin with butter. Press strip on to inside of tin so that it lines side and snipped edge sits on base. Lay paper circle in bottom of tin.
6. Cut out a double layer of newspaper or brown paper, to wrap around outside of tin. If paper isn’t long enough to wrap around, fill gap with another section of paper. Make sure paper is a couple of inches higher than top of tin. This lining is essential to stop sides of tin getting too hot and burning cake.
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7. Take a length of kitchen string folded in half, make sure it’s long enough to wrap around tin, then thread two ends through loop end, pull two ends in opposite directions to pull string tight, and wrap them around tin, to meet at opposite side. Tie string to secure.
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The GH Kitchen Team are Good Housekeeping’s resident recipe developers and all-round food obsessives. GH Kitchen Director Sarah Akhurst is our resident hosting pro and loves nothing more than putting on a foodie feast for friends. Our GH Kitchen Manager Linzi Pucino is our very own Italian food expert (originally hailing from the North East of Scotland!) and can be found working her way through midweek recipes that cover all bases, from haggis to ragu! Our Kitchen Editor Nadine Brown loves digging into the stories behind her favourite foods and enjoys applying her eclectic tastes to more modern, flavour-forward recipes - just don't give her too much chilli! Our Junior Food Content Produce Frankie Prichard combines a love of beautiful presentation and flavour-led, seasonal cooking in her recipe development, along with a passion for bringing people together through food. With a wealth of professional kitchen experience between them, they’re dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work every single time
