Who remembers this nostalgic cake from your school dinner? Often served with custard (or pink custard) – yum! This gives me so much nostalgia. There’s just something about a super soft and light sponge cake with a sweet and simple glaze, topped with lots and lots of sprinkles. It tastes amazing and it’s so quick and easy to make. Always a crowd-pleaser and a fun one to make.
Makes 16 pieces | Time: 50 minutes plus cooling time
Ingredients
For the cake:
170g (6oz) margarine, at room temperature
170g (generous 3⁄4 cup) caster (superfine) sugar
170g (11/3 cups) self-raising flour
3 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
For the glaze:
170g (scant 11⁄2 cups) icing (powdered) sugar, sifted 2–3 tbsp boiling water
(or warm milk)
About 4 tbsp sprinkles
Method
- Preheat the oven to 170°C (150°C fan)/340°F/Gas mark 31⁄2 and line a 20cm (8in) square baking tin with nonstick baking paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer, beat together the margarine and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the flour, eggs and vanilla extract until just combined. Try not to overmix, as this can knock the air out and create a dense cake, rather than a light and fluffy one.
- Scoop the batter into your prepared tin and smooth it out evenly.
- Bake for 30–40 minutes until the top is lightly golden and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Leave the cake to cool for 20 minutes in the tin. Then, if frosting the cake the next day, see page 9. Otherwise, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before making the glaze.
- In a small/medium mixing bowl, mix together the sifted icing (powdered) sugar and boiling water until thick and smooth. If it’s too runny, add more icing sugar until you reach your desired consistency.
- Pour the glaze over the cake and smooth it out evenly. Top with sprinkles and leave to set at room temperature before serving. Cut into 16 squares and enjoy!
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
Top tips: If you want to change the colour of the glaze, add a dash of food colouring once you reach your desired consistency. Feel free to add 1 tsp of vanilla extract to the glaze for extra vanilla flavour.
Extracted from Fitwaffle's Baked In One by Eloise Head (Ebury Press, £22) Photography by Faith Mason
