Old School Chocolate Tray Bake Cake (small batch)

  

Today's recipe is for a very simple, basic chocolate cake. Called Old School Chocolate Tray Bake Cake, it is a simple cake that goes together very quickly and easily, and which uses simple ingredients that most of us always have in the kitchen. 

It was a recipe I had seen on Pinterest off and on for quite a while now. I finally decided to make it the other day. This particular recipe was adapted from a recipe found on Eat Cook Bake.  I loved that there were no bells and whistles. 

 

The fanciest part of this cake might just be the chocolate sprinkles!  It's just a simple cake that uses basic baking cupboard ingredients.  It is a British recipe and is something which is very popular over there for after school snacks.  It might even have a history of being served for school dinners, with custard sauce.  I don't know for sure!

I would have loved to have school dinners when I was a child. There was never the option at any school I went to. You had to either go home for lunch or bring your lunch with you. There were no cafeterias, lunch programs etc.  We brown bagged it.

 

I can imagine this cake would be fabulous sitting in a pool of custard.  It was pretty tasty as it was!  I did not make the full recipe. I cut it in half to make only six portions rather than twelve, so it is a small batch recipe.

It is moist and dense and chocolatey.  The icing is a mere scraping of a glace icing poured over top with the sprinkles added after.  This was lovely with an ice-cold glass of milk and I can imagine a scoop of ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream would be even nicer!

Don't let my bad photos put you off. It is incredibly difficult to photograph anything that is chocolate for some reason. Trust me when I say this is delicious!

 

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE OLD SCHOOL CHOCOLATE TRAY BAKE CAKE (small batch)

A few simple baking cupboard ingredients and a 7-inch square pan.  

For the cake:

• 1/2 cup + 1/2 TBS (125g) butter, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup (125g) castor sugar (fine granulated sugar)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 medium eggs
• 110g (1 cup) self rising flour
• 1/4 cup + 1 tsp (30g) cocoa powder (not drink mix)
• 1 1/2 TBS milk

For the glaze:

• 2/3 cup (85g) icing sugar
• 1/2 TBS cocoa powder
• 1 TBS milk
• chocolate sprinkles

 

I just use regular salted butter. Castor sugar is a fine granulated sugar used for baking in the U.K. Granulated sugar in Canada is much finer than granulated sugar in the U.K. so it should be okay.

Medium eggs in the U.K. (and this is a British recipe) are the equivalent of large eggs in North America, or so I am told. Each egg should weigh between 60 and 63 grams, each.

You can make your own self raising flour very easily. For every cup needed, simply add 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/4 tsp salt.

Make sure you use cocoa powder and not hot chocolate drinking mix. The two are not the same. Cocoa powder is unsweetened and has only ground cocoa beans in it. I used an Organic Dutch process cocoa from Costco. Its lovely.

Icing sugar is also called powdered sugar and confectioners' sugar.  My milk is whole milk, and the chocolate sprinkles are just the ones you pick up in the cake decor aisle!

 

HOW TO MAKE OLD SCHOOL CHOCLATE TRAY BAKE CAKE (small batch)

It took me a while to figure out the right size pan for this, but I finally did it. A seven-inch square pan works perfectly. I used a small ceramic baking dish.

Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter a 7-inch square baking tin. Line with baking paper. Set aside.

Cream the butter and granulated sugar together until light. Then beat in the vanilla. Beat in the eggs, one at a time.

 

Sift together the flour and cocoa powder. Whisk this into the creamed mixture, alternating with the milk. You should have a smooth batter.

Spoon into the prepared baking tin, smoothing the top over.

Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before lifting out to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.

 

To make the icing, sift the sugar and the cocoa powder together. Whisk in the milk until smooth. For a thicker icing add more icing sugar. For a thinner add more milk.

It should be thick and easily spreadable/pourable. Pour over the cake, spreading it out to cover. Sprinkle with the chocolate sprinkles.

Leave until the icing hardens completely. Cut into slices to enjoy!

 

This simple cake may not look like much, you might even call it an ugly duckling, but what it lacks in looks it more than makes up for in flavor.  Delicious and chocolatey with a moist and tender crumb.

The glaze icing is more than enough of a topping. This is fabulous served cut into squares with an ice cold glass of milk on the side.  

It's perfect for lunch boxes as well, or picnics come the season!

  

If you are a smaller family like I am you may be a fan of smaller batches when it comes to baking. Here are a few other small batch bakes that I enjoy!

SMALL BATCH BRAN MUFFINS - My favorite kind of muffin is a bran muffin, and this small batch recipe makes half a dozen low fat, low sugar, high fiber muffins. They are also delicious. So low in fat that you don't need to feel guilty serving them warm, split and spread with butter.  Fabulously tasty!

SMALL BATCH JAM CRUMBLE BARS - These are a real favorite around here with their shortbread cookie type of base, sweet jam center and buttery crumble topping. You can use whatever kind of jam you wish as the filling. I love strawberry, raspberry or cherry.  But all are delicious. This simple recipe makes six delicious bars!

Yield: 6 slices

Author: Marie Rayner

Old School Chocolate Tray Bake Cake (small batch)

Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 25 MinInactive time: 10 MinTotal time: 50 Min

This is a classic chocolate tray bake with a chocolate glace icing and chocolate sprinkles on top.

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 1/2 cup + 1/2 TBS (125g) butter, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup (125g) castor sugar (fine granulated sugar)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 medium eggs
• 110g (1 cup) self rising flour
• 1/4 cup + 1 tsp (30g) cocoa powder (not drink mix)
• 1 1/2 TBS milk

For the glaze:

• 2/3 cup (85g) icing sugar
• 1/2 TBS cocoa powder
• 1 TBS milk
• chocolate sprinkles

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter a 7-inch square baking tin. Line with baking paper. Set aside.
2. Cream the butter and granulated sugar together until light. Then beat in the vanilla. Beat in the eggs, one at a time.
3. Sift together the flour and cocoa powder. Whisk this into the creamed mixture, alternating with the milk. You should have a smooth batter.
4. Spoon into the prepared baking tin, smoothing the top over.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before lifting out to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.
6. To make the icing, sift the sugar and the cocoa powder together. Whisk in the milk until smooth. For a thicker icing add more icing sugar. For a thinner add more milk.
7. It should be thick and easily spreadable/pourable. Pour over the cake, spreading it out to cover. Sprinkle with the chocolate sprinkles.
8. Leave until the icing hardens completely. Cut into slices to enjoy!

Did you make this recipe?

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