MIDWEEK BAKE

midweek bake a bite of nostalgia

Take a trip down memory lane with this colourful cake that you can whip up in an hour for an afternoon treat

recipe CASSIE BEST photograph MIKE ENGLISH

School-days sprinkle sponge

While this is great with a cup of tea, you can also serve it as pudding with warm custard.

SERVES 12-15 PREP 15 mins plus cooling and at least 1 hr setting COOK 45 mins EASY V

200g salted butter, softened, plus extra for the tin 200g caster sugar 4 large eggs 200g self-raising flour 50ml milk 2 tsp vanilla extract 200g icing sugar multicoloured sprinkles, to decorate shop-bought custard, warmed, to serve (optional)

1 Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/ gas 4. Butter a 20 x 30cm cake tin and line with baking parchment. Beat the butter and sugar together in a large bowl with an electric whisk for a few minutes until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, flour, milk and vanilla, and beat again until the mixture is smooth. 2 Scrape the batter into the prepared tin, spread it into the corners, and smooth the surface. Bake for 40-45 mins, or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean with no wet cake mixture clinging to it. If it’s not ready, bake for 5 mins more and check again. Leave to cool in the tin. 3 Mix the icing sugar with enough water to make a thick, pourable icing. Pour the icing over the cooled cake, and spread it out so it covers the surface. Immediately scatter with plenty of sprinkles until the icing is almost completely covered. Leave to set for at least 1 hr. Cut into squares and serve with warm custard, if you like.

PER SERVING (15) 289 kcals • fat 13g • saturates 8g • carbs 40g • sugars 30g • fibre 1g • protein 3g • salt 0.4g