This old fashioned school cake topped with a simple glaze and sprinkles is just the simple retro bake we all need right now! Easy to make all in one bowl and delicious served plain or with warm vanilla custard. Make sure all your cake ingredients are at room temperature before starting this recipe.
Prep Time10 minutesmins
Cook Time45 minutesmins
Total Time55 minutesmins
Course: Cake
Cuisine: British
Keyword: School Cake, School Dinner Cake, Sprinkle Traybake
350g( 2¾ cups) plain flour(all purpose flour or cake flour)
330g(1 ⅔ cups) sugarcaster or granulated
1tbspbaking powder
½tbspbicarbonate of sodabaking soda
½tspsaltomit if you are using margarine
200g(7/8 cup) softened butteror margarine
3large eggs
180ml(¾ cup) milkroom temperature
2tspvanilla extractor vanilla paste
For the icing & decoration
455g(3 ½ cups) icing sugar(powdered sugar) preferably sifted
water, as needed to thin the icing
1tspvanilla extract
hundreds and thousands sprinkles
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 170C (340F). Line a rectangular tin (mine was 23x29cm) with baking paper letting the edges hang over the sides.
Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, soda in a large mixing bowl. If you can be bothered then sift everything into the bowl to aerate the dry ingredients. Add the eggs, milk, vanilla extract and butter or margarine (room temperature please!).
Start beating at lowest speed setting until ingredients come together. Increase the speed to maximum and beat until the batter is completely smooth - about 30 seconds to one minute.
Transfer to a rectangular baking tray lined with paper and level using a spatula. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until the cake is golden and feels springy to the touch. A skewer or knife inserted in the centre should come out clean – if not cook for a further 5 minutes.
Leave the cake to cool completely then carefully invert so that you add glaze to the flat side. If the cake has domed while baking, level using a large serrated knife. This is likely to happen if your baking tray is a tad too small.
Mix the icing sugar with just enough water to make a thick pourable glaze. Drizzle over the cake, letting it drip down the sides (you might want to do this over a large roasting tin to catch any excess glaze).
Add sprinkles and leave the glaze to set slightly before slicing and sharing. You can serve with a little warm custard (I used tinned custard) for an extra slice of nostalgia!
Video
Notes
If you are using self raising flour then add only half a teaspoon of baking powder (no baking soda).
Unless specified otherwise all your ingredients including butter eggs and milk should be at room temperature in order to achieve a smooth batter. If one or more of the ingredients are cold they will cause your batter to split or look curdled.
If your milk is cold from the fridge then heat briefly in the microwave or saucepan until just tepid. Make sure the milk is body temperature - not too hot!
Place cold eggs into warm water for five minutes to bring them back to room temperature.
Cut cold butter into cubes and leave for an hour on your counter to warm up or use margarine.
How do I know if my cake is done?
Oven temperatures can vary so set a timer for 5 minutes before the specified time. The cake is done when the top is springy to the touch, the cake has just started to pull away from the edge of the tin and a skewer or toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
Avoid opening the oven too often – or too early! - to check if the cake is done or your oven will start losing heat.