Marshmallow jam surprise cake

I needed a quick cake to bake last week and preferably girly. You can't get much girlier than marshmallows, jam and pink sprinkles can you?

The cake was actually baked for group of men. Does anyone else take great delight out of making something ridiculously girly for manly men?

A teacup full of mini marshmallows is a wonderful sight.

I used to avoid eating marshmallows. I could eat a couple but wouldn't go out of my way to eat them as they made me feel a bit funny. Then my mum told me that when I was 3 I ate so many marshmallows after my Grandad's funeral that I was sick! Suddenly it all made sense. They don't bother me now.

This is pretty much a bog standard sponge cake with some strawberry jam yet somehow the mixture was quite stiff when I turned it into the tin to bake. It's possible that I accidently put in too much flour as I wasn't paying full attention (that'll teach me to do "easy baking" whilst watching Once Upon A Time) but I couldn't be bothered to tip it back out to alter. It still produced a tasty cake, even though the jam dollops sunk to the bottom. The marshmallows and icing were insanely sweet but I think that's part of the cake's charm.

Marshmallow jam surprise cake

Recipe from Cakes Galore by Valerie Barett

125g soft margarine (I used unsalted butter as I didn't have margarine

125g caster sugar

125g self-raising flour

2 eggs, beaten

2-3 tablespoons black cherry jam or any red jam of your choice

100g large marshmallows (I used mini marshmallows as that's what I had in the cupboard but large ones would probably look prettier on the cake.)

175g icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas mark 4. Grease and base line a deep 18cm round cake tin. Put the margarine, sugar, flour and eggs into a bowl and beat together until smooth and mixed. Spread half the mixture into the base of the prepared tin. Dot with the jam. Spread the remaining cake mixture evenly over the top. Bake in the oven for about 40-45 minutes, or until well risen and golden brown.

While the cake is cooking, cut the marshmallows in half horizontally, using wetted scissors. Remove the cake from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack. Cool the cake for about 15 minutes, then arrange the marshmallows, cut-side down, over the top of the warm cake (the cake needs to be warm enough for the cut sides of the marshmallows to melt slightly so that they stick to the cake.) Leave the cake until quite cold. Mix together the icing sugar and enough water in a bowl to marke a thick pouring consistency. Pour the icing over the cake and allow to run slightly down the sides. Serve in slices.