Question: Christmas Cake - Why do I need to put brown or newspaper in the oven?
The Christmas Cake recipe calls for ... "Tie a double band of brown or newspaper paper around the outside" and "Stand the tin on a double layer of newspaper in the lower part of the oven and bake for 4½ hours." Why?
Answer: A Christmas Cake contains a lot of sweet, dried fruits and sugar and cooking of the cake takes over 4 hours. Wrapping the cake tin, as standing the cake tin on a double layer of newspaper protects the bottom and sides of the cake and prevents it cooking too quickly and more importantly, burning during the long slow cooking.
