To make Jam and Coconut School Cake, you start by baking a simple sponge cake with self-raising flour, sugar, eggs, and margarine. Once cooled, you spread seedless jam (strawberry or raspberry, whatever you prefer) over the top of the cake and sprinkle with desiccated coconut. Finally, you slice it into squares and serve it just like at school dinners!

You absolutely can. I always prefer to use a soft margarine in sponge cakes as it makes them lighter in texture and more predictable in terms of baking. But if you prefer to use butter, you can swap the margarine for that, like-for-like. Just be sure to use butter that is softened.

Yes! You can absolutely use plain flour in place of self-raising flour in a school cake, but you will need to add the raising agents that you would usually find in self-raising flour. The general rule of thumb is to add 2 teaspoons of baking powder for every 150g of plain flour. So, in this recipe, you would use 3½ teaspoons of baking powder as there is 280g of flour.

Because this recipe makes a massive tray cake, it uses 5 large eggs. If you add them too quickly, the batter can split or curdle. To fix this, simply add a tablespoon of your weighed-out self-raising flour along with each egg to help the mixture bind back together.

Both my classic school cake recipes are written for a 20x30cm (12×9-inch) baking tin. You can use something slightly different, but keep an eye on the baking time, as it may vary. Alternatively, if you want to scale up/down the recipe for a different-sized tin, this school cake sponge recipe is very versatile – but again, you may need to adjust your baking time.

The secret to a perfect, clean jam layer is a cool cake and warm jam. Let your school cake cool completely before adding the topping. Then pop your seedless jam into the microwave for around 20 seconds just to loosen it up. This makes it much easier to glide over the sponge without tearing the delicate crumb.

Stored in an airtight container at room temperature, this cake will stay beautifully soft and moist for up to 4 days. Because of the jam layer, there’s no need to refrigerate it, as the fridge can actually dry the sponge out faster.

You can, but I would always recommend freezing it before you add the jam and coconut. This is because when it comes to defrosting the cake, the jam will melt into the sponge and you won’t have the same taste, texture or appearance. Instead, if you want to freeze it, wrap it tightly in cling film and foil before adding the jam and coconut. It will keep for up to 3 months in the freezer and defrost at room temperature before adding the jam and coconut.