Old-school cake is nostalgic, versatile, and easy to bake! You can use it as a birthday cake, a tray-bake-style cake for parties or events, or a dessert paired with warm custard.
Whatever you decide to do with it, here is a recipe for a fluffy, moist, and sweet old-school cake.
You’ll need:
3 medium eggs
200g butter (softened, and extra to grease the tin)
50ml of milk (whole, skimmed, or semi, whatever your preference is)
200g caster sugar
200g self-raising flour
2 tsp vanilla extract
200g icing sugar
Sprinkles
Recipe
- Start by preheating your oven to 180C (160C for fan ovens or gas 4). Next, grease your chosen tin. For this recipe, you are looking for a tin roughly 20cm by 30cm – this can be rectangular or circular, depending on your preference. Make sure the butter or baking parchment reaches the corners and sides of the tin – you don’t want your cake to stick!
- Now, take your softened butter and caster sugar and whisk them together until light and fluffy. This can take a few minutes on medium power for electric whisks. Be careful to not over beat – you want the butter to become paler but not start to clump and separate.
- Add in the eggs, flour, milk, and vanilla, and beat until smooth. Some recipes call for four to five eggs, but I’ve found that three medium or two large give the cake a nice, fluffy texture without making it too eggy. A small tip, if you don’t have vanilla extract then a couple of pumps of vanilla coffee syrup works just as well!
- Pour your batter into your tin, making sure it reaches the edges and corners and has an even surface. You’ll want to bake it for 40-45 minutes, checking on it halfway through with a skewer. Insert the skewer into the middle of the cake – if it comes out clean then your cake is ready! If not, pop it back in the oven and check on it every five minutes.
- Once baked, remove it from the tin and place to cool on a metal rack. If, like me, you are impatient then leave it next to a window to cool quicker.
- While the cake is cooling, you can make the icing. Mix the icing sugar with small measurements of water until it reaches the desired texture. When the cake is cool, pour the icing over the top and add your sprinkles. Leave to set for an hour and it’s ready to serve! It should make 8-12 servings.
Featured Image Credit: Scottish Scran
Second year student journalist studying Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Journalism Studies.
Writer for Brig and Discovery Music, Chief Sub Editor for Brig
