cake tins are traditionally made from metal to be durable and oven-proof. New materials like silicone are also used in ovens now due to the low cost and ease of manufacturing complex shapes
Cooking a cake in the air fryer is fun. But baking in the air fryer requires a cheap yet indispensable extra.
The air fryer baking basket.
It’s a tall cake tin with a handle for easy air fryer removal. The drawer-style air fryers make removing the classic cake tin difficult due to the 4 hot sides. You can find a cake tin in the tiny air fryer space.
New
A new baking item is made small enough to fit in the air fryer, tall enough that the contents won’t over-spill and has a handy basket-style handle on top. Available in several sizes with square or circular options that best suit your air fryer.
Sizes
Be aware that the sizes measured are not like a traditional cake tin. The size sold with a classic cake tin is the size of the cake it will make. This is useful for cake bakers to know. But, the air fryer baskets are measured by the external maximum size, allowing you to know if the tin will fit inside your air fryer.
For example, the 7″ air fryer cake tin with a handle will make a 6″ cake. So it is just a case of realising the sizing difference to avoid confusion. The new air fryer baskets are measured on their external, largest dimensions, which can be a good inch less than the internal dimensions.
Round and Square
Find the best shape that fits your air fryer.
Find yourself a suitable air fryer cake tin on eBay or Amazon.
Being universal, they will fit Cosori, InstantPot (Instant Vortex), Ninja, Chefman and all the unbranded/rebranded models.
The baking tins are made from metal, and the handle is chrome-plated steel, while the whole tin has a nonstick coating inside and out for easy cleaning.
Follow our tips for nonstick baking in the air fryer as these are nonstick for easy cleaning, not easy baked cake removal.
It is often possible to find these air fryer optional extras for a reasonable price on AliExpress, but there can be a long wait for the delivery as they are often shipped from China.
Yes, you can cook a cake in the air fryer; it just needs one extra to make it happen.
The air fryer cake basket
The basket is a tall cake tin with a small handle to fit in your air fryer. This simple and cheap optional extra expands your air fryer’s capabilities into a cake baker. Please look at the various cake-baking baskets for the air fryers in our article here.
Quick Cake
The fast heat-up time and small capacity make the air fryer more economical to make a quick cake for a teatime treat or a delicious pudding. For an alternative cake, you can add any additional ingredients to the recipe, like raisins, glace cherries, or lemon zest. All based on the same basic recipe can give you plenty of compliments. It’s light and spongy without any frills or icing, a lovely, any-day cake boost.
And all done in the air fryer.
Basic ingredients
The primary store cupboard ingredients make this air fryer cake a cheap and easy treat that will impress. It has four main everyday kitchen cupboard staples ideal for using up the odd eggs or margarine.
Eggs, Baking Block, Castor Sugar and Self Raising Flour
Recipe
The small 7″ square cake basket (makes 6″ cakes, see our sizing guide) will make a small cake that will give around 6 decent-sized portions (slices).
Ingredients
2 eggs (weighed in the shells) – mine were 155g
Self Raising Flour – the same weight as the eggs were (plus some for dusting the tin)
Castor Sugar – – the same weight as the eggs were
Margarine or baking fat – – the same weight as the eggs were (plus some for the tin)
Baking powder – half a teaspoon
Vanilla Essence – a teaspoon
Instructions
Weigh the two eggs in their shells and note their weight. We used two small eggs, and these weighed 155g. Yours will vary, so note down the weight of your two eggs.
Weigh out the Flour, Butter and Sugar and add them to a stand mixer or food processor.
Add half a teaspoon of baking powder.
Mix the 3 ingredients with the K mixing paddle or whatever you have for a food processor.
Crack the eggs into a cup, and with the machine running slowly, pour them into the mix and let them run for a minute. (Cracking the eggs into a cup can allow you to rescue any shell that shouldn’t be there).
Add a teaspoon of vanilla essence to the mix.
After a minute of mixing, you may need to scrape the sides of the bowl down and mix for a few more seconds.
Cooking
Take the cake tin basket out of the air fryer and set the air fryer to 160° C and 30 30-minute timer. Start the machine to allow it to preheat.
Grease the cake tin with some cooking fat/margarine/butter Add 1 teaspoon of flour to the tin and shake and roll it so it sticks to the margarine. This will prevent the cake from sticking to the tin. Please don’t skip this step; it will help you a lot. There are step-by-step pictures of the cake tin preparation here.
Transfer the cake mixture to the prepared cake basket and try not to mix it up in the cake basket. Just getting it in there is good enough. Too much moving around, and you may lift off the flour and margarine release agent.
By now, the air fryer should be preheated; it may beep at you. When it has reached cooking temperature, remove the air fryer basket and carefully lower the cake tin into the basket using the handle. Close the air fryer basket and allow it to cook for 30 minutes.
If your eggs were huge (heavy), you might want to add 4 minutes to the time for the extra ingredients will take a bit more time to cook through.
Cooking Complete
When the cooking is completed, you can remove the air fryer basket with the cake tin and place it on a cooling rack.
Allow the whole lot to cool.
Then turn out the cake onto the same cooling rack and put the air fryer basket back in the air fryer. The cake will fall easily out of the tin because it was adequately greased and floured before adding the mix.
Allow the cake to cool further if necessary, and then slice to enjoy.
Best Served
The Air Fryer Quick Cake is best served with a cup of coffee for a teatime treat or covered with custard for a delicious pudding.
Cakes require the ever-useful optional extra ‘air fryer cake basket’, which requires quick preparation before adding the cake mixture. The lining of the cake tin means the cake won’t stick in the tin and will be very easy to remove when it has cooled slightly.
Ingredients
Butter/Margarine/Cooking fat (whatever you are using as fat for the cake will suffice for this)
Flour (the same flour you are using for the cake)
Tin Prep
Prep the tin in these simple steps to ensure the cake is quickly released from the air fryer cake tin with minimal effort.
Ensure your air fryer cake tin is clean:
Smear the fat over the inside surface of the tin:
Add a heaped teaspoon of flour to the tin. You can add more if needed or lose some on the way.
Shake and roll the tin so the flour coats all the fat. Add more flour if you need to. Tip away any excess flour that doesn’t stick to the spread.
A prepped cake tin is ready for the cake mixture. Don’t try too hard with the mixture; moving it about will remove the flour coating you have just added. The cake mix doesn’t have to look perfect, as it will settle as it cooks.
