Old School Sponge Cake

Old school sponge cake with icing and sprinkles is a quick & easy cake that is sure to please everybody. This iced sponge cake is full of nostalgic charm and it’s delightful served just as it is or the traditional way of school dinners – with a serious helping of custard alongside it.

This post is sponsored by Whitworths Sugar. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Last Friday I told my daughter that I would soon be publishing a recipe for old school sponge cake. Her excitement was palpable. She confessed that when this iced sponge cake was on the menu at school, she would opt for school dinner that day instead of taking a packed lunch.

Asked what was so good about this retro school cake she said it was the texture, plus the sweet hit of soft white icing and the promise of bucket loads of colourful sprinkles on the top. Her friend piped up that it was her favourite too, only her dinner ladies served school cake with custard on the top. Sighs… happy sighs.

It would seem that some recipes never go out of favour. They really do last the test of time and this old fashioned school cake is one such recipe.

What is old fashioned school cake?

For those of you who missed out on British school dinners, here’s the lowdown on what this much-loved retro school cake is:

• It’s a tray bake sponge cake sometimes, but not always, flavoured with vanilla.
• It has a delectable layer of sweet water icing on the top. This is typically white but, occasionally, a dab of food colouring might be included (usually pink).
• The icing is covered in liberal amounts of colourful sprinkles such as hundreds and thousands.
• It’s cut into squares or rectangular chunks.

It’s usual to serve this iced sponge cake just as it is or with a liberal serving of custard alongside it. The combination of the soft cake, sweet icing, crunchy sprinkles and creamy custard is legendary.

This simple bake has other names including school dinner cake, British school cake, back to school cake, sprinkles sponge cake & hundreds and thousands cake.

If you’re on the lookout for more classic British puddings then don’t miss my cornflake tart, steamed jam sponge pudding or my baked suet pudding. They’re all deliciously retro too.

Why this iced sponge cake is so popular

• Quick & easy: it takes less than 15 minutes to get this bake into the oven. And decorating this old school sponge cake is also an absolute doodle – no fancy skills are required.
• Feeds a crowd: you can easily create 15-20 portions using this recipe.
• Texture: this cake has a fluffy and soft sponge that teams up with the soft water icing and a tiny crunch from the sprinkle topping gorgeously.
• Appearance: this retro school cake has charm and it screams fun. Could you seriously resist a square of it?
• Taste: sometimes the simplest of bakes are the most popular. With subtle hints of vanilla plus the sweet water icing, this uncomplicated and rather humble hundreds and thousands cake is universally popular.
• Nostalgia: this bake is all about conjuring up comforting childhood memories.

Ingredients notes

This easy recipe for back to school cake relies on basic store cupboard ingredients.

Baking margarine: not only is this a budget-friendly option (therefore heralded by dinner ladies on tight budgets) it also provides a particularly light and fluffy sponge cake. Butter could be used but the cake will be heavier.

Caster sugar: this is finer than granulated sugar and therefore produces a lighter and airier cake. I use Whitworths caster sugar because it is sustainably sourced and I know that I can always rely on it to produce a great bake. It is also safe for anybody with nut, gluten and wheat allergies.

Flour: I use plain flour and add baking powder to ensure I’m in control of how much raising agent is included. However, feel free to use self-raising flour instead. If you do, omit the baking powder.

Eggs: use medium eggs, which in the UK typically weigh 53-63g when still in their shells. If you have different-sized eggs that’s fine, just weigh them and aim for approximately 280g of eggs in their shells.

Vanilla extract: it’s debatable whether this really was part of the old school sponge cake recipe. My hunch is that, at best, there may have been a splash of vanilla essence back in my school days (1980s). However, as it does enhance the flavour of this iced sponge cake, I advocate including vanilla extract.

Icing sugar: water icing is an integral part of this school dinner cake and for that, we need icing sugar (also known as confectioner’s sugar or powdered sugar). Again, I like Whitworths icing sugar because I know it’s a quality product and it’s gorgeously fine so it mixes well with the water to make a smooth icing, regardless of whether or not you sieve it.

Sprinkles: old fashioned school cake has to be liberally doused in sprinkles. Go for bright and bold or pick pastel shades. I have a soft spot for hundreds and thousands for this style of iced sponge cake. The choice is entirely at your discretion though.

How to make old school sponge cake

Full instructions and measurements are given in the printable recipe card at the end of this post.

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. Grease and line a 30x20cm (12×8-inch) rectangular baking tin that is at least 2 inches (6cm) deep.
3. Cream the butter and sugar together using electric beaters until light and fluffy (this will take 3-5 minutes) then add the eggs, vanilla extract & milk.
4. Sift in the flour and baking powder.
5. Start to beat the mixture, using the slowest speed on your electric beaters, until the ingredients come together. Increase the speed and continue to beat for around 1 minute until the batter is smooth.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and use a knife to spread it out.
7. Bake for around 30-35 minutes until the cake is golden and a skewer poked into the centre comes out clean.
8. Let the cake cool completely. Remove it from the baking tin, flip it over, so that the base faces upwards. This creates a flat surface for the icing. Remove the baking parchment.

9. Sift the icing sugar into a bowl.
10. Add just enough water to create a smooth icing that is loose enough to spread but not so loose that it will run off the cake.
11. Pour the icing over the cooled cake.
12. Scatter lots of sprinkles over the top.
13. Leave the icing to set for 30 minutes before slicing.

Expert tips

• Always use digital kitchen scales and gram measurements when baking. It’s the most accurate method of measuring out ingredients, ensuring better baking results for you.
• Room-temperature ingredients will help this old school sponge cake rise evenly, making it easier to decorate with the water icing.
• Don’t overmix the batter as it will result in a tough sponge.
• Wait until the cake is completely cold before pouring the icing over the top. If the cake is still warm then the icing will soak into the cake.
• Remember that all ovens vary. The bake time is a guide and your cake may take slightly less time to cook or slightly longer.
• Always use the correct tin size. Trying to fit too much batter into a smaller tin will lead to it overflowing during the bake.

Frequently asked questions

Variations

• Go pink: add a dab of pink food colouring to the water icing.
• Double hundreds and thousands cake: if your sprinkles are bake stable (they don’t bleed their colour into the batter) then fold 30g through the cake batter before baking.
• Chocolate: to turn it into a chocolate school cake simple replace 50g of the flour with 50g cocoa powder and proceed with the recipe.
• Lemon: omit the vanilla extract and fold in the finely grated zest of a lemon. Use 1 tablespoon of lemon juice when making the icing, then add more water as necessary to reach the desired consistency.
• Buttercream: swap the water icing for a slather of buttercream on top.
• Halloween: this iced sponge cake is popular at Halloween dressed up with orange icing and Halloween-themed hundreds and thousands.
• Christmas: transform it into a kid-friendly Christmas cake using green icing and festive sprinkles.

More nostalgic bakes

If this hundreds and thousands cake has you harking back to childhood favourites don’t miss these recipes too.

This recipe features on the Whitworths Sugar website where you can order all their sugars (in various sizes). You’ll never have to go hunting around the supermarkets for specific sugars again. Be sure to take a look at their full collection of easy, fun and family-friendly recipes too.

Have you made my old fashioned school cake with icing and sprinkles on the top? I hope you enjoyed it as much as my family do. Please leave a rating and/ or comment to let me know how you got along with the recipe.