School Cake
A British classic from the golden days of school dinners, old School Cake is a simple sponge cake, topped with a thick layer of white icing and a generous amount of rainbow sprinkles. Served with custard (pink or otherwise!) or on its own, the pudding that takes you straight back to the dinner hall.
When I first set out to make this recipe, I wondered if School Cakes were a thing of the past. My kids, however, informed me that you do still get School dinner Cakes at lunchtime, albeit not every day, nor after a ‘nutritious’ serving of Turkey Twizzlers and chips!
School dinners seem to have a generational divide. For me, a child of the 90s, school dinners were pizza, Turkey Twizzlers, Turkey Drumsticks, and turkey Dinosaurs (basically a lot of turkey!), plenty of chips, and buckets of beans.
Granny remembers mince, stew, cold meats, sausages and fish pie, all served with potatoes and veg – never chips!
These days, the boys’ school dinners consist of macaroni, fajitas, bubble fish, stir-fries, steak pie, and lots of fresh fruit and vegetables on the side.
One thing that is always a hit at school dinners, regardless of what generation you are from, is old School Cake!
Instantly recognisable, this basic sponge is topped with a layer of icing and a generous amount of sprinkles. And that’s it… nothing overly fancy, but delicious enough to have an entire dinner hall of kids buzzing with excitement, and praying there will be at least enough cake until their spot in the line.
If you loved School Cake, try my recipes for Cornflake Tart and Jam & Coconut School Cake for even more school dinner nostalgia.
Tips for Best School Cake:
• Use Room Temperature Ingredients: Ensure your margarine/butter and eggs are at room temperature before starting. This helps the batter mix more evenly and will give a better, more predictable rise.
• Don’t Overmix the Cake Batter: After adding the flour, fold the batter until just combined. Overmixing can make the sponge cake dense in texture, instead of light and fluffy.
• Test for Doneness: You know the sponge is ready when it’s golden on top and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Avoid opening the oven too early or too often, otherwise the cake might sink in the middle.
• Bake in Advance: Bake your sponge the night before you need it. Once cool, leave it in grease-proof paper on a wire rack and place it in an airtight bag. Decorate with the icing and sprinkles in the morning. This will give your cake a better and easier-to-work-with texture overall. Just trust me!
• Cool Before Icing: Let the cake cool completely before adding the icing and sprinkles; otherwise, the icing will melt and slide right off!
• Avoid Supermarket Sprinkles: If you are in the UK, you’ll probably find the supermarket sprinkles are not what they used to be, and somewhat anaemic. It’s always worth sourcing brighter sprinkles for an authentic School Cake experience.
More Cakes You’ll Love:
• Traditional Victoria Sponge
• Classic Carrot Cake
• The Best Lemon Drizzle
• Easy Sultana Cake
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School Cake
EQUIPMENT
INGREDIENTS
- 280 g Margarine (at room temperature)
- 280 g Caster Sugar (Superfine Sugar)
- 5 Free-range Eggs (at room temperature)
- 280 g Self-raising Flour
- 350 g Icing Sugar (Powdered Sugar)
- 3-4 tbsp Boiling Water
- Sprinkles [to decorate] (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Pre-heat your oven to 180°c (160°c for fan assisted oven, Gas Mark 4 or 350°F) and a 9×12 inch baking tin with greaseproof paper. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs one at time, ensuring each is mixed through before adding the next.
- Sift in the flour and gently fold to create a batter.
- Transfer the batter to your pre-lined tin and bake in your pre-heated oven for 30-40 minutes until risen, golden and a skewer inserted comes out clean.
- Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once your cake has cooled completely; in a bowl, mix the icing sugar with a few teaspoons of boiling water, adding a little water at time until you have a thick pouring consistency. Pour the icing onto your cake, using a spoon to guide it to the edges. Finish with some rainbow sprinkles.
Video
IMPORTANT NOTE:
All my recipes are developed using a digital scale and the metric system (grams and millilitres). Cup measurements are available as a conversion but these, unfortunately, won’t always be as accurate. For best results, I always recommend baking with a digital scale.
RECIPE NOTES:
- Storage: Store your old School Cake in an airtight container at room temperature. It’ll keep well for up to 4 days, if it lasts that long!
- Freezing: You can freeze the sponge before adding the icing and sprinkles. Wrap it tightly in cling film and foil, and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost at room temperature, then finish with jam and coconut before serving.
- Serving: For full school dinner nostalgia, serve with a drizzle of custard (pink or otherwise!)
School Cake gets its name from the fact that it is the sheet cake that would be served with school dinners across the UK. Traditional school cake is a simple, plain sponge, topped with a white water icing, and finished with rainbow sprinkles. It can either be served as is, or with a splash of custard – either normal yellow custard, or sometimes pink custard!
Yes, you can use butter instead of margarine in this old-school cake recipe, but I prefer margarine as it gives a lighter, fluffier sponge, whilst also being the more traditional option. Whichever you choose, just make sure it’s softened before you start.
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.
Yes, you could certainly try an egg replacer (like a chia seed or flaxseed “egg”), or use 60g mashed banana or apple sauce, per egg. The texture and flavour may be slightly different, but still tasty!
Absolutely! Once baked and cooled (and before icing), wrap the sponge cake in cling film and tinfoil, then freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost fully at room temperature before icing and serving.
Free-from & Vegan:
Nut-free: There are no nuts used in this old school cake recipe, but as always, be sure to double-check your individual ingredients allergens list.
Dairy-free: To make this a dairy-free school cake recipe, simply use a dairy-free margarine. It’s also worth double-checking your sprinkles when serving to those with dairy allergies or intolerances.
Egg-free: To make this an egg-free school cake recipe, you can try experimenting with egg replacers, such as chia seed or flaxseed “eggs”. Alternatively, you could use 60g of mashed banana or apple sauce, per egg.
Gluten-free: To make this a gluten-free old school recipe, you can use a good-quality gluten-free self-raising flour as a straight swap. You may want to add ½ tsp of xanthan gum if your flour blend doesn’t already include it, to help with the texture and structure of the cake. Also, be sure to check your other ingredients for any hidden gluten (particularly the sprinkles) when serving to those with coeliac disease, allergies or intolerances.
N.B. Any advice or suggestions to make recipes “free-from” or vegan are purely that – suggestions. Please be careful to double-check all ingredients individually, taking extra caution when serving to those with allergies & intolerances.
For more info on common food allergies, please see food.gov.uk | For more info on coeliac disease, please see coeliac.org.uk | For more info on a vegan diet, please see vegansociety.com
Originally published in July 2020. Updated in May 2025.
So light and fluffy
What shelve date would you recommend
Really yummy recipe. Made this today. It won’t be here long though..
I’ve split my mixture and put into 2 loaf tins and came out perfectly.
Really easy to make- haven’t tried it yet as it’s for hubby’s birthday tomorrow (he has been banging on about old school sprinkle cake, who am I to deny?) can’t wait to try it! Thank you x
Very good recipe and easy to make!
Thank you!!