Finding Some Comfort | Primary School Cake

I have fond memories of getting a huge slab of cake with pink icing and colourful sprinkles. Usually accompanied by custard all for less than £1.50. It was a cake that when I was at school was a real comfort, so when they redecorated the canteen and they stopped selling it I was heart broken. I’ve never really been able to remake the cake recipe… until now!

Spurred on my a Uni friend’s desire for some good old fashioned cake you got at school and a small amount of procrastination from studying neuroanatomy; I researched different types of white cake, looked a other blogs and invaded Pinterest to discover what could possibly make the cake taste so good. I used those ideas and general ratios and came up with this great cake recipe. And it tastes almost as good as the real thing… 99.99% accurate. 

This cake has had some rave reviews from the uni crowd and has definitely been a success. Its a recipe thats made its way into my recipe book and will definitely be a frequent flier at uni, treats for the siblings and a great traybake for lunch boxes. Its also a great dessert, served with a gorgeous thick custard. That’s the way I would buy the cake at school and its a great comfort.

It’s these comforting memories that help you get out of difficult mindsets. This week, using the memory of this cake and the process I had to undertake to recreate it has given me a massive push to get back into the throws of life, when I was hoping to hide away from my problems. The success of creating this dish was definitely a positive motivator to get back to full throttle. 

This cake come out in the most beautiful traybake, ice the cake in the tray and leave to set overnight before you consider cutting for the best snack serving.

Primary School Cake – Makes 1 Tray (25-30 slices)

Ingredients

• 8oz Butter
• 8oz Sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1tsp vanilla extracts
• 3 tbsp milk
• 8oz self raising flour
• 1tsp Baking Powder 

For the Icing:

• 2-3 tbsp water
• 300g icing sugar
• Food Colouring of choice
• Don’t forget the sprinkles!

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160c and grease your traybake tin with liberal amounts of butter.
2. Beat together the sugar and butter until combined and completely pale. Then add each egg one by one, mixing after each egg until completely combined. Add in the vanilla extract and milk.
3. Gently fold in the flour and baking powder, three tablespoons at a time until no flour is left on the edge of the bowl.
4. Pour cake batter into the tin, spreading but not pushing the air out the mixture. Bake for 15-20min or until centre is cooked.
5. Let cake cool whilst you make the icing. Add the food colouring to the icing first so you don’t make the icing too runny. Liberally pour all over the cake. Let dry for two minutes before adding the sprinkles.
6. Portion and Eat!

Here’s a picture of the cake post slicing! I really do recommend it being liberally greased to make it easier to portion! But just enjoy it – the best pieces are definitely the edges!