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Nostalgic Jam and Coconut Traybake

A old-school classic comfort dessert, vanilla sponge topped with a tart raspberry jam and desiccated coconut
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Cooling Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 50 minutes
Course Dessert
Servings 16

Ingredients
  

For the vanilla sponge

  • 400 g gluten-free self-raising flour
  • 400 g margarine
  • 6 medium free-range eggs
  • 380 g white sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • ¼ tsp Xanthan Gum
  • ¼ tsp salt

For the toppings

  • 1 jar raspberry jam
  • 6-8 heaped tbsp desiccated coconunt
  • custard to serve

Instructions
 

For the vanilla sponge

  • Preheat the oven to 160° C Fan and line a 30x23cm deep square baking tin with baking paper, leaving some over the sides so that the cake can be taken out easily after baking.
  • Cream together the margarine and sugar until lighter and fluffy in texture.
    400 g margarine, 380 g white sugar
  • Whisk in the eggs and vanilla extract one at a time until completely incorporated.
    6 medium free-range eggs, 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • Add the flour, salt and Xanthan Gum to the wet ingredients and fold in until no pockets of flour remain.
    400 g gluten-free self-raising flour, ¼ tsp Xanthan Gum, ¼ tsp salt
  • Transfer the mixture to the square baking tin and level off with an offset spatula.
  • Bake on the middle shelf for around 35 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean (See Notes).
  • Allow the cake the cool completely when done, before removing from the baking tin. Once cooled, cover evenly with the jam and sprinkle with desiccated coconut.
    1 jar raspberry jam, 6-8 heaped tbsp desiccated coconunt
  • Serve warm with custard.
    custard

Notes

Tips & Tricks

 
Room temperature ingredients are essential for this recipe to work. Room temperature ingredients ensure that they can all be mixed together thoroughly. If you forget to take your eggs out of the fridge beforehand, place them in a bowl of lukewarm (not hot, you don't want to cook them!) water 15 minutes prior to baking to bring them to room temperature more quickly.
 
 
The toothpick test is a great way to check whether your cakes are done. As all ovens are calibrated differently, the baking times stated are always suggested as a rough guide. To check if the cake is done, insert a toothpick into the centre and if it comes out with no crumbs stuck to it, you can assume that the cake is baked through and ready to come out.
 
 
I use grams for weighing almost all of the ingredients in my recipes as it is what I am most used to when cooking and baking on a daily basis. I use measuring cups for simple ingredients such as spices or smaller amounts as it can be much easier to measure. I would recommend sticking to what the recipe suggests as there is no guarantee that converting into cup measurements or vice-versa will have the same outcome.
Keyword coconut, nostalgic, raspberry