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Tottenham cake

Published: 22 Apr 25
Updated: 12 May 25

Tottenham cake is a simple vanilla traybake topped with pink icing. Learn how to make this nostalgic bake from London with our easy recipe from baker Anna Higham.

A brief history: “Tottenham cake was first baked by Quaker Henry Chalkley in the 1800s to celebrate Tottenham Hotspur winning the FA Cup. It was baked as a treat that could be easily served to the local kids: a sheet cake cut into squares with a simple icing made from the mulberries that grew around the Quaker house,” explains Anna.
Modern tweaks: “Tottenham cake’s distinctive pink icing is now commonly just plain icing with food colouring and is often topped with brightly coloured sprinkles or desiccated coconut.”
Gluten-free twist: “We always try to have one gluten-free bake on the menu at my bakery, Quince, which is most often our cake, so I bake our version of this classic with gluten-free oat flour. It gives the already soft crumb an even lighter texture and a delicious cereal flavour. “
Seasonal bake: “At Quince, We made our icing with mulberries during their brief season but as they’re so tricky to get hold of I’ve used frozen raspberries here instead. If you do want to make it with mulberries you’ll need to wait for those halcyon few weeks in high summer when the trees all of a sudden ripen.”

Put the kettle on and bake another of our easy teatime traybake recipes.

Easy
April 2025

Test kitchen approved

Serves 12-16, depending how you cut the cake
Prep time 25 min, plus 10 min setting. Cook time 30-40 min

Tottenham cake is a simple vanilla traybake topped with pink icing. Learn how to make this nostalgic bake from London with our easy recipe from baker Anna Higham.

A brief history: “Tottenham cake was first baked by Quaker Henry Chalkley in the 1800s to celebrate Tottenham Hotspur winning the FA Cup. It was baked as a treat that could be easily served to the local kids: a sheet cake cut into squares with a simple icing made from the mulberries that grew around the Quaker house,” explains Anna.
Modern tweaks: “Tottenham cake’s distinctive pink icing is now commonly just plain icing with food colouring and is often topped with brightly coloured sprinkles or desiccated coconut.”
Gluten-free twist: “We always try to have one gluten-free bake on the menu at my bakery, Quince, which is most often our cake, so I bake our version of this classic with gluten-free oat flour. It gives the already soft crumb an even lighter texture and a delicious cereal flavour. “
Seasonal bake: “At Quince, We made our icing with mulberries during their brief season but as they’re so tricky to get hold of I’ve used frozen raspberries here instead. If you do want to make it with mulberries you’ll need to wait for those halcyon few weeks in high summer when the trees all of a sudden ripen.”

Put the kettle on and bake another of our easy teatime traybake recipes.

Nutrition: Per cake (for 16)

Calories: 432kcals
Fat: 24g (2.6g saturated)
Protein: 7.8g
Carbohydrates: 44g (32g sugars)
Fibre: 2.4g
Salt: 0.3g

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Ingredients

300g caster sugar
6 medium eggs
300g vegetable oil
½ tsp vanilla extract
300g oat flour (gluten-free if needed)
¼ tsp fine salt
1½ tsp baking powder

For the icing

200g frozen raspberries, defrosted
200g icing sugar
Sprinkles of your choice

Specialist kit

23cm square cake tin

Method

Heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4 and line the baking tin with baking paper. Leave a little paper overhanging the sides so you can easily lift the cake out once baked.
Add the sugar and eggs to the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment. Whisk at a medium speed for 15 minutes – you want a pale, voluminous mix that leaves a stiff trail or ribbon when you pull the whisk out. Turn the speed to low then, with the motor still running, slowly pour in the oil and vanilla extract.
Mix the flour, salt and baking powder together, then gently fold them through the egg mixture using a large metal spoon or balloon whisk in a figure-of-eight motion. You want to be fairly gentle to keep all that beautiful volume you’ve created (but make sure everything is well combined).

Pour the batter into the lined tin and bake for 30-40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean and the colour is deeply golden. Allow to cool while you make the icing.
For the icing, put the raspberries, icing sugar and a pinch of salt in a food processor or blender and whizz until smooth and bright pink. Add a splash of water if it feels too thick.
Once the cake has cooled, pour the icing over the top (through a fine sieve if you want it very smooth) then add the sprinkles. Leave to set at room temperature for at least 20 minutes, then remove from the tin and slice into squares.