Vegan school cake - this nostalgic traybake is a total throwback to school dinners! This is the ultimate comforting pudding consisting of a soft vanilla sponge cake topped with a white glace icing and colourful sprinkles.
It is extremely quick and simple to make and is delicious served plain or with lashings of vegan custard!
What Is School Cake?:
For those of you who missed out on school dinners in the UK, old school cake is a classic British cake often served for 'pudding' at school lunches. Whether it is still found in schools today or if it is just a thing of the past I can't say, but I'm sure for many people it holds fond memories!
It is an incredibly simple cake - basically just a vanilla sponge traybake/sheet cake topped with water icing and sprinkles, and it is served in squares or rectangular chunks, ideally with plenty of custard for a truly nostalgic dessert!
This retro cake is so quick and easy to make, feeds a crowd and there are no fancy decorating skills required!
Ingredient Details:
Sprinkles: It wouldn't be a school cake without the sprinkles! make sure that the ones you buy are vegan friendly as often they contain beeswax or non-vegan colourings. I used Dr Oetker Unicorn Confetti which is vegan and can be found in most supermarkets in the UK (note that most Dr Oetker sprinkles are NOT vegan, just this particular blend). You can also get lots of vegan sprinkles online.
Oil + vegan butter: Using a mixture of oil and butter in the cake gives you the best of both worlds - both flavour and moisture. Any neutral flavoured liquid oil will work, I use olive (do not use coconut oil!). For the butter ideally use a block variety, though spreadable will also work as long as it isn't a 'light' variety.
Non-dairy yogurt: I love using plant yogurt in vegan cakes, it is a great egg replacer and keeps the cake moist as well as adding flavour. Either soy or coconut yogurt will work. If you don't have any you can just use more non-dairy milk instead.
Baking powder and bicarbonate of soda (baking soda): You need to use both, they are not interchangeable.
Milk: Any variety of unsweetened non-dairy milk will work (except tinned coconut milk) but I like soy milk the best for baking as it has the highest protein content.
Vinegar: This reacts with the bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) to help the cake rise and give it a fluffy texture.
Sugar: Either caster or granulated for the cake is fine, I do not recommend swapping this for any other kind of sugar or sweetener. You will also need icing (powdered) sugar for the glaze.
Vanilla extract: Extract is better than essence and you can also use vanilla bean paste.
How To Make Vegan School Cake:
(Full measurements and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the page)
- Step 1: Whisk together the milk, yogurt, oil, melted butter, sugar, vinegar and vanilla in a large bowl.
- Step 2: Whisk in the baking powder and soda and salt, followed by the flour.
- Step 3: Pour the batter into a lined 23 x 33 cm/9 x 13 in cake tin and spread it level.
- Step 4: Bake for 25 minutes.
- Step 5: To make the icing, sift the icing sugar into a bowl and gradually mix in enough water to make a thick but pourable consistency, similar to honey.
- Step 6: Drizzle the icing over the cake, scatter with sprinkles, cut into squares and serve!
Top Tips:
All of my recipes are developed using grams, and as with all of my baking recipes I really do recommend using the metric measurements with a digital scale rather than the cup coversions. Cups are a wildly inaccurate measuring system and you will get far better, more consistent results using a scale, not to mention that it is also easier and less messy than cups!
Tablespoon and teaspoon measurements are for proper measuring spoons, NOT regular kitchen spoons. A Tablespoon is 15ml and a teaspoon is 5ml and they should be level, not heaped.
Be careful not to over-beat the batter as that can make the cake tough, just stir it by hand with a balloon whisk (not an electric mixer) until no dry lumps remain.
The cake is ready when it is firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs but no wet batter.
Let the cake cool completely before icing it, otherwise the icing will just melt and soak into the cake.
Be careful not to add too much water to the icing otherwise it will just all run off the cake, it should be thick but pourable, similar to honey. If you drizzle some back into the bowl, the pattern should disappear after about 8 seconds.
Make sure you add the sprinkles before the icing starts to set, otherwise they won't stick.
Variations:
- Make it lemon - add the finely grated zest of 2-3 lemons to the cake batter and swap the water in the icing for lemon juice.
- Almond - add a teaspoon of almond extract to the cake batter and around ½ teaspoon (to taste) to the icing.
- Play with colour - add a few drops of pink food colouring to the icing, or go orange with black sprinkles for Halloween, or green with red and white sprinkles for Christmas.
- Make a classic vegan vanilla sheet cake - swap the water icing for vanilla buttercream or cream cheese frosting.
- Funfetti - provided that your sprinkles are bake-stable, add a few tablespoons to the cake batter before baking.
FAQ's:
This cake will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for around 3-4 days.
I would recommend freezing the un-iced cake if possible. Freezing the icing could make it a bit wet and cause the colour to bleed from the sprinkles into the icing.
Wrap the cake well to prevent freezer burn and freeze for up to 3 months. Allow to defrost at room temperature to serve.
This vegan vanilla sheet cake bakes up pretty flat on top, but to ensure a perfectly even surface simply flip it upside-down to ice it so that the bottom is now the top.
Yes, a half batch of the recipe will work in a 20 cm/8 in square cake tin.
More Retro British Recipes Made Vegan:
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Vegan School Cake
Ingredients
Cake:
- 240 g (1 cup) unsweetened non-dairy milk (I use soy)
- 120 g (½ cup) plain non-dairy yogurt (I use soy) (or use more milk)
- 83 g (6 Tablespoons) neutral oil (I use olive)
- 120 g (½ cup) vegan block butter melted
- 250 g (1 + ¼ cups) caster or granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 400 g (3 + ⅓ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
Icing:
- 450 g (4 cups) icing (powdered) sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4-5 Tablespoons water
- 2-3 Tablespoons sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/160° fan/350°F/gas mark 4. Grease a 23 x 33 cm / 9 x 13 inch rectangular cake tin and line it with baking parchment.
- Whisk together the milk, yogurt, oil, melted butter, sugar, vinegar and vanilla in a large bowl.240 g (1 cup) unsweetened non-dairy milk (I use soy), 120 g (½ cup) plain non-dairy yogurt (I use soy), 83 g (6 Tablespoons) neutral oil (I use olive), 120 g (½ cup) vegan block butter, 250 g (1 + ¼ cups) caster or granulated sugar, 2 teaspoons vinegar, 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- Use a balloon whisk to whisk in the baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt, followed by the flour. Be careful not to over-beat the batter, just mix it until no dry lumps remain.2 teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda), ½ teaspoon salt, 400 g (3 + ⅓ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
- Pour the batter into the prepared tin and spread it level. Bake for about 25 minutes until the cake is firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 20 minutes then carefully turn it out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
- To make the icing, sift the icing sugar into a bowl, add the vanilla extract and gradually mix in enough water to make a very thick but pourable consistency. If it is too thick, add more water a couple of drops at a time, and if it is too runny add more sifted icing sugar.450 g (4 cups) icing (powdered) sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 4-5 Tablespoons water
- Drizzle the icing over the cake (flip it upside down if you want a totally flat surface) and spread it level with a palette knife or the back of a spoon.
- Scatter sprinkles generously over the icing while it is still wet, then leave it to set for about 30 minutes before slicing.2-3 Tablespoons sprinkles
Notes
- See post above for tips, details and step-by-step photos.
- All of my recipes are developed using grams, and as with all of my baking recipes I really do recommend using the metric measurements with a digital scale rather than the cup coversions. Cups are a wildly inaccurate measuring system and you will get far better, more consistent results using a scale, not to mention that it is also easier and less messy than cups!
- Let the cake cool completely before icing it, otherwise the icing will just melt and soak into the cake.
If you tried this recipe let me know how it went! Rate it, leave a comment or tag @domestic_gothess on Instagram and hashtag it #domesticgothess
Maria
Hi Gothess, This really looks worth trying, but I have one small quibble. 'Sprinkles' is a US imported word for what we British were brought up to call 'Hundreds and Thousands', a far more interesting evocative name in my opinion!
Hannah
Growing up in the UK I always knew hundreds and thousands to refer specifically to the ones that are tiny little balls rather than sprinkles generally!
Christian
Made this at the weekend and it turned out amazing! Nice and easy to make because you just need to mix everything together and put it in the oven. I think it would be a great option for a birthday tray bake cake too. Will try the lemon suggestion next time as that seems like it would work really well.
Thanks for a great cake recipe!
Hannah
Hi, can I ask what type of vinegar to use please?
Hannah
Hi Hannah, white wine or cider vinegar are what I would recommend.
Alie
This turned out so well. I chose this recipe as I was baking with my 4 year old grandson and we didn’t have to bother creaming sugar and butter together. Just weighing and mixing. I didn’t have yogurt so used extra milk and it turned out perfectly. It was fun to decorate too. Very moist and tasty! We’ll definitely make again and try the different variations. Many thanks!
Lucinda Baldwin
I’ve just made this tray bake for a second time. It’s an infallible, brilliant recipe and so quick to put together.
Steve Brown
I've made this twice so far, and taken it into work to share with the rest of the team. The first time I followed the recipe, except for putting pink colouring in the icing and adding rainbows and unicorns.
Second time I swapped 50g of flour for cocoa powder, and another 50g of icing sugar for cocoa powder. I also added 300g of dark chocolate chips to the cake recipe.
The rest of the team loved both versions, and said it was the best vegan cake they've had.
Jenny
This is now my go-to vanilla sponge recipe! It's so simple but soft and moist and my non-vegan family love it!