Recipe | School jam and coconut sponge cake

Fluffy sponge cake smothered in jam and sprinkled with dessicated coconut: a classic from the old school canteen. Custard optional!

Another old school classic I’ve been meaning to make for ages. This school jam and coconut sponge cake is made using a basic sponge mix with some jam and dessicated coconut to decorate. You can use any size or shape of shallow baking tin you have, just tweak the ingredient quantities up or down as necessary.

I believe some school canteens used to serve this as a dessert with (pink!) custard. But I’d rather eat it as it is!

Ingredients (makes 18-24 slices of old school jam and coconut sponge cake)

170 g / 6 oz butter (at room temperature) or baking margarine
170 g / 6 oz caster sugar (granulated sugar will work if you can’t get caster)
170 g / 6 oz self-raising flour, sifted
3 eggs (large or medium)
Seedless jam/ jelly jam – I used strawberry, but choose your favourite!
Dessicated coconut. You’ll need at least 50 g / 2 oz, so just buy the smallest bag you can find.

Method

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C/ 160 degrees C fan / 356 degrees F / Gas Mark 4.

Line your baking tin(s) with greaseproof baking paper. The ingredients I’ve listed here will make a jam coconut sponge to fill a rectangular tin measuring 18 x 32 x 2.5 cm (7 x 12.5 x 1 inches). If your tin is smaller, use 2 eggs and 4 oz (115g) of the other ingredients. If bigger, go up to 4 eggs and 8 oz (225g) of everything else.

Use a stand mixer or electric hand beaters if you have them. Beat the butter or baking margarine for 3-4 minutes until it goes pale. I’d recommend baking margarine over butter for this recipe. However, if you can only get butter just beat it for a long time until it starts to go white so you get a good rise on the sponge.

Add the sugar to the butter/marg and beat for another 3 minutes until the mixture starts to look fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring the mixture gently between each addition until combined. Finally, add the flour and fold in gently. Pour the sponge cake mixture into your prepared baking tin and use a spatula or knife to spread out evenly.

Put in the oven for 18-20 minutes until risen and golden brown. You can insert a skewer or knife into the middle to check the cake is done – it will come out clean without any gooey mixture on if it’s cooked (see knife hole in the centre of the cake in the following picture!).

Leave the sponge cake to cool in the tin for about 15 minutes. Spread on the jam while the cake is still warm (it helps it to spread evenly) and sprinkle on a first layer of coconut.

Wait for another 15-20 minutes and remove the cake from the tin. Now that it’s almost completely cool, sprinkle over some more coconut (the first lot will have partially “absorbed” into the jam).

Slice your school jam and coconut sponge cake and serve (warm with custard if you prefer!).

This school jam and coconut sponge cake will keep well for up to 5 days after baking in an airtight container stored in a cool, dry place. However, it’s quite a sticky one to store, so I’d suggest baking it for a time you know you’ll have lots of eager mouths to help you test it!

And if you’re looking for more childhood baking nostalgia: