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This gluten free Jam and Coconut Sponge brings back all the nostalgic memories from school dinners. A soft and fluffy coconut sponge cake slathered in jam and sprinkled with more coconut, perfect served up warm with custard as a nostalgic school dinner pudding.
About This Jam and Coconut Sponge Recipe
🥥 So Easy: This retro sponge cake is made with a handful of storecupboard ingredients, so simple to make, and is ready to eat in under an hour.
🥥 Reader Fave: In the short time this has been on the website it’s gained SO much love! Jayne said: “Oh, Sarah another delicious recipe, and warm with custard……it was heaven.” while Fiona commented: “This cake was easy to make and delicious, you can’t tell it’s gluten free.”
🥥 Top Tip: Go for full on retro vibes by serving it warm with pink custard! A few drops of pink food colouring is all you need – just like at school dinners.
🥥 Updated for 2026: This recipe has been so popular, I’ve updated it to add fresh new photos, step-by-step pictures and an instructional video to make life even easier.
Table of Contents
Don’t just take my word for it…
Fiona left ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and said: “As with all of Sarah’s recipes this is perfect and foolproof. This cake was easy to make and delicious, you can’t tell it’s gluten free. I used a Stork block rather than butter and it worked really well.“
Susan also left ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and commented: “Absolute revelation baking GF. I was so scared of it for so long, this truly is a nice bake that’s nostalgic and easy to follow.”
Ingredients and Substitutions
There’s a printable recipe card for this gluten free jam and coconut sponge recipe below. But here are some notes on the main ingredients and any easy swaps:
- Butter: If you need this to be a gluten and dairy free jam coconut sponge, simple swap it for a vegan margarine like Stork. I’ve done this many times and it works just as well.
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Gluten Free Self-Raising Flour: I usually use the FREEE gluten free self raising flour blend. If you only have a plain gluten free flour, stir in 2.5 tsp gluten free baking powder and 0.25 tsp xanthan gum to the flour before adding it to the main cake mixture.
- Milk: Use a dairy free milk, like soya milk, coconut milk, almond milk or gluten free oat milk if you need to make this recipe dairy free.
- Desiccated Coconut: Double check for may contain warnings.
- Jam: I love using raspberry jam in this recipe but you could use strawberry or cherry jam instead. I prefer a smooth jam but jam with seeds in is totally fine if you prefer it!
How to Make Jam and Coconut Sponge
There’s a printable recipe card below with the method. But here are some step-by-step photos to show you how easy this jam coconut traybake recipe is to make:
Storing and Freezing Instructions
TO STORE: If you’re not eating this cake straight away, you can cool it to room temperature then store it in an airtight container. It will last up to a week! Don’t keep gluten free cakes in the fridge – it actually makes them go stale a lot quicker.
TO FREEZE: This jam coconut cake freezes really well. If making ahead, you can freeze the sponge wrapped in clingfilm and then defrost before topping and serving. You can also freeze squares of leftover cake – I recommend doing this between sheets of baking paper on a board, then transferring to a bag or tub once frozen.
Jam and Coconut Sponge Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 225 g unsalted butter, (or dairy free margarine like Stork)
- 225 g caster sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 225 g gluten free self-raising flour, (see recipe notes if using a plain flour blend)
- 2 tbsp milk, (use dairy free if needed)
- 75 g desiccated coconut
For the topping:
- 130 g smooth raspberry jam, (or strawberry jam if you prefer)
- 30 g desiccated coconut
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C / 160C Fan / Gas Mark 4. Grease and line a 20cm (8-inch) square baking tin and set aside while you make the mix.
- Add the butter (or margarine) and sugar to a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric whisk until pale and creamy.
- Crack the eggs into the mixture and briefly whisk again to combine. Don’t worry if it separates – this will be rectified when we add the flour!
- Add gluten free flour, desiccated coconut and milk to the mixture and beat again until it forms a thick batter. Be careful not to overmix – just ensure it is combined with no lumps of flour.
- Pour the batter into the lined cake tin, spread it out evenly and smooth the top.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes, until the top springs back when lightly pressed, or a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Once cooked, remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool for at least 30 minutes before removing it from the tin.
- Add the jam to a bowl and zap it in the microwave for about 10 seconds to make it a little runnier, stirring well afterwards.
- Evenly spread the jam over the cake while it’s still warm, then sprinkle evenly with the coconut and cut into 16 even squares. Serve warm or cold.
Video
Notes
- Serving Suggestion: This cake is at its best when eaten warm with custard. For bonus points, add a couple of drops of pink food colouring to the custard for that proper school dinner vibe. It is also equally as delicious cold!
- Storing: Once cooled, keep this cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. You can also freeze it – see the blog post above for my top tips.
- Dairy Free? Swap the butter for Stork (or dairy free margarine) and the milk for a dairy free alternative, like almond or soya milk.
Nutrition
More Nostalgic Gluten Free Recipes
If you love this gluten free jam and coconut sponge recipe, why not try some of my other nostalgic gluten free bakes next?
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As with all of Sarah’s recipes this is perfect and foolproof. This cake was easy to make and delicious, you can’t tell it’s gluten free. I used a stork block rather than butter and it worked really well. Thank you Sarah for all your recipes, we have made so many of them and use them every week.
So glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for the lovely feedback x
Excellent recipe easy to make delicious moist sponge I have made it a times and all the family really enjoy it, you would never know it is gluten free I am a huge fan of your recipes keep up the good work
Made for my daughter today, she loves it, so tasty! She said you wouldn’t know it was gluten free 😍
Used baking spread rather than butter. So easy 😍
I’m trying your coconut cake recipe to take to a friend. Thank you for explaining how to make plain gluten free flour into self raising flour. Finding ordinary self raising flour is hard enough in France never mind gluten free of any kind.
Will let you know how it turns out.