Old School Cake Recipe - A Nostalgic Classic!

What is School Cake? It’s a basic vanilla sponge cake recipe with water icing and sprinkles. We have sometimes seen it sliced in two horizontally with jam in the middle, but mostly it’s just as is! It often came served with custard too. School Cake has a few different names. Sometimes it’s called Old School Cake, Retro School Cake, School Dinner Cake, School Cake Traybake, sometimes literally Sponge Cake with Sprinkles, Sprinkle Sponge, or Sprinkle Cake. Whatever you call it, it's simple to make and delicious!

📝 Ingredients

• 400 g (1.75 Cups) Butter or Margarine Spread
• 400 g (1.75 Cups) Caster Sugar
• 400 g (2.5 Cups) Self Raising Flour
• 1 tsp Vanilla Essence
• 7-8 Medium Eggs
• 500 g (3.25 Cups) Icing (Confectioners) Sugar
• 5 Tbsp Room Temperature Water
• Sprinkles

👨‍🍳 Instructions

1. 1Heat the oven to 180C/160C Fan or 350F/320F...: Heat the oven to 180C/160C Fan or 350F/320F Fan.
2. 2Grease a 9x13 inch baking tin and line...: Grease a 9x13 inch baking tin and line with baking paper if you wish. Using baking paper means you can lift the cake out easily later after icing it but it's just as easy to cut and remove one slice at a time if you've greased it well.
3. 3Cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy.
4. 4Add one egg at a time and beat...: Add one egg at a time and beat in gently but thoroughly.
5. 5Add the vanilla essence.
6. 6Sift the flour and fold it into the...: Sift the flour and fold it into the batter
7. 7Bake for 45-50 minutes, checking to see that...: Bake for 45-50 minutes, checking to see that a skewer comes out clean when poked in the middle.
8. 8Cool the cake in the tin. It's easiest...: Cool the cake in the tin. It's easiest to decorate in the tin so the icing doesn't run everywhere, but you can take it out beforehand if you wish.
9. 9Mix the icing sugar with a tablespoon of...: Mix the icing sugar with a tablespoon of room temperature water, adding more tablespoons until you have a spreadable but not runny icing. You’ll probably need 4-5.
10. 10Pour over the cake and spread it out...: Pour over the cake and spread it out evenly, then add lots of sprinkles.
11. 11Wait for the icing to set and then...: Wait for the icing to set and then slice and serve.