MATTY'S TRAYBAKE TALES PART 1 - STRAWBERRY SPONGE

When I first got into baking it was the tray bake that prompted me to make my first tentative steps into the kitchen. For my next couple of baking recipes I'm going to take it right bake to the start and share some these recipes with you. This one is the most basic standard all in one tray bake that is perfect for any beginners to try out. I've added my personal touch by decorating it with a strawberry cream cheese frosting which is great for the upcoming summer months. Settle down and let me begin my very first tray bake tale.

Whatever you do, do not change any quantities or ingredients in this cake recipe. It doesn't need changing as it make the perfect sponge. You can scale up or down all the quantities of all the ingredients at once if you wish to make a bigger or smaller tray bake but do not mess around with random bits in my guide below or your asking for trouble. 

You can change the frosting though. My strawberry topping was inspired by some fresh strawberries I bought from the local farmers market. Totally in season, they added a right fruity burst to the top of this sponge. You don't have to make the frosting strawberry flavored if you don't want too, a plain cream frosting with a touch of vanilla extract would work well or if you don't want to use cream cheese you can make a simple water icing by adding tsps of water to some icing sugar until a spreadable icing forms. You can also decorate the topping with whatever you like too; it's such a versatile sponge that almost any flavored toppings will compliment it.

Without the cooling times, you can have this cake made in just under one hour. All you need are a couple of bowls, a spoon and a large baking tray. Being an all in one recipe too makes it such an easy cake to make. Simple and quick; what's not to like?

Strawberry Tray Bake

425g Softened Butter

350g Golden Caster Sugar

450g Self Raising Flour

2 Tsp Baking Powder

6 Whole Eggs

6 Tbsp Milk

13 Strawberries

450g Icing Sugar

200g Cream Cheese 

1. Begin by placing your oven on to 180 degrees (160 fan) and grease and line a large deep sided baking tray roughly 32cm squared with baking paper.
2. Add 350g of butter, caster sugar, flour, baking powder, eggs and milk into a large bowl and beat until a smooth, well combined batter has formed.
3. Pour the batter into the baking tray and level the top with a spatula before placing in the oven to bake for 40-45 minutes until golden brown on top and an inserted skewer comes out clean. 
   
   Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
4. Take one strawberry and mash it with a fork until smooth. Add the strawberry pulp to a bowl with the remaining butter and icing sugar and gently mix together until combined. Add in the cream cheese and whisk until light and fluffy. Pop into the fridge to firm up slightly.
5. When the cake is cool and frosting firm, turn the cake out onto a wire rack and spread the frosting over the cake. Half the remaining strawberries and use them to decorate the top of the cake.

Serve the cake up by cutting the tray bake up into around 24 equal sized squares making sure that each piece has a bit of those delicious plump, red strawberries on top. What you now have in front of you is a delicious and perfect sponge cake that will be soft, moist and melt in your mouth. Slathered with a strawberry cream cheese frosting, it not only smells amazing, looks pretty but also tastes so incredibly fruity that you'll be in total tray bake heaven upon first bite. My first tray bake tale may be a simple and straight forward one but it's a highly effective one and a great cake recipe to have up your sleeve. A true classic!

Looking for more tray bakes? 

Lully Lemon Sponge
Gorgeous Ginger Cake
Triple Chocolate  
Apple And Cinnamon Mash Up
Coffee And Walnut