Those Cakes We Like … Are Flaking Out

Of making the obvious joke about being a Master Baker.

Summer has come to an end here in the UK, the weather has turned colder, and the new school year is in full session. Maybe it’s because Cakes Jr. is growing up so fast (I can’t believe she’s in college already!) but this season has me feeling nostalgic, craving the comfort food of my childhood, especially the desserts which were a highlight of school dinners in the UK. Growing up in the ‘90s meant I attended school before the current drive for healthy school dinner provision began. School dinners, or at least the main course, was usually a beige affair, frequently highly processed and fried: nothing to write home about, even though they were almost universally popular with their intended consumers. Desserts, however, were a different story. We Brits are perfectly capable of talking for hours about our favourite school desserts, from the sprinkle-topped goodness of school sponge, to the deliciously chocolatey clagginess of chocolate concrete cake, all served with some variety of custard. Perhaps there was a good reason the children of my generation were frequently bouncing off the classroom walls and generally annoying the teachers.

One of my favourite school desserts is the oft-overlooked Cornflake Tart, a simple sweet shortcrust pastry base, covered with a layer of raspberry jam, all topped with syrup-glazed cornflakes. This dessert is easy to make (especially if you use ready made shortcrust pastry), and makes a delicious treat served with piping hot custard (make your own or buy a tin of Ambrosia Devon Custard from the UK section of your local grocery store).

A Little Slice Of History

The origin of Kellogg’s Cornflakes, and their creator John Harvey Kellogg and his brother Will’s belief that a bland diet would help to keep Americans from sin, or one sin in particular, is well-known, but the creation of cornflakes has a deeper history.

Prior to the 1850s, the American breakfast was indistinguishable from the American dinner, featuring everything from pastries to boiled chicken and beef steak. Eventually it became clear that this rich, meat-heavy diet was causing problems, with indigestion, known as dyspepsia, being a huge issue for the middle and upper classes. Dyspepsia was the obesity of the late 19th century, with debates on the subject filling the columns of the newspapers and magazines of the period. Dr. John Kellogg was part of a movement to combat the problem of dyspepsia through a concept known as “biological living,” a move towards simpler, lighter foods as a way to improve both physical and spiritual health. Kellogg followed and recommended a vegetarian diet with minimal consumption of eggs and dairy, and the complete avoidance of tea, coffee, alcohol, tobacco, and condiments of any kind. And you Americans like to say us Brits eat bland, flavourless food.

It is probably not surprising that John H. Kellogg’s quest to free the American population from temptation linked to religious conviction: Both he and his brother were Seventh Day Adventists whose parents raised them in the belief that the Second Coming was nigh, and thus they had no need of an education. In a move that would make today’s Republicans proud, Little Johnny K managed to obtain a medical degree despite his lack of an education. He became president of an Adventist sanatorium in his hometown of Battle Creek during his twenties, and it was his unfortunate patients who became the guinea pigs for his experiments on the effects of a bland diet on health and morality. And no, their consent was not sought.

John Harvey Kellogg, the blueprint of the Republican medical professional.

In my opinion, this is the most delicious way to eat cornflakes, and the one which most flies in the face of John Kellogg’s initial intentions for his creation.

This recipe will serve 10, with a carbohydrate count of 41g of carbs per portion, or 410g for the whole tart, not including custard.

Your Equipment

Digital kitchen scales

Mixing bowl or food processor (if making your own pastry)

Clingfilm/plastic wrap

Baking parchment

Rolling pin

Baking beads/uncooked rice/dry lentils

Fluted pie dish or tin (9 inch/23 cm)

Serrated knife

Saucepan

Your Ingredients

I don't think Little Johnny K would approve of this much sugar with his cereal.

For the pastry:

150 g All-purpose/plain flour

75 g Unsalted butter

50 g Confectioner’s/icing sugar

1 Egg yolk

Pinch of salt

Extra flour for dusting

For the fillings:

125 g Raspberry jam

100 g Cornflakes

50 g Butter

125 g Golden Syrup ( brave the tariffs and buy Lyle’s brand at the store, or see my Treacle Sponge recipe for how to make your own)

25 g Light brown sugar

Pinch of salt

The Important Bit

If you’re making your own pastry, you’ll need to do this bit first. Weigh out your flour (150 g), and butter (75 g), cut the butter into small cubes. Place both the flour and the butter into your mixing bowl and use your fingertips to rub them together until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs. Alternatively, put the flour and butter into your food processor and use the pulse function to combine the two until you get the breadcrumb-like consistency (usually takes around 90 seconds).

Mix the confectioner’s sugar (50 g) into the flour-butter mix, along with a pinch of salt.

Mix in the egg yolk until the pastry starts to form a dough. If it seems too dry you can add a tbsp of cold water to the mix.

Shape the dough into a ball, flatten into a disc and then wrap it in clingfilm/plastic wrap. Place it in the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes.

If you don't have any plastic wrap, a sandwich bag will do.

Preheat your oven to 350F/180C.

Cut a large piece of baking parchment to line your counter, lightly dust it with flour. Place your pastry in the centre of the baking parchment and roll it out until it is big enough to cover your pie tin using your rolling pin (you’ll need to regularly rub this with a little flour to prevent the pastry sticking to it).

Once your pastry is rolled out to fit the pie tin, place the tin upside down on the centre of your pastry. Carefully slide your hand under the baking paper and, whilst holding the pie tin in place with your other hand, flip the pie tin so that it is the correct way up, with the pastry and baking parchment on top. Now remove the baking parchment and gently fit the pastry into the pie tin and trim the edges to just above the sides of the pie tin. Don’t worry if there is some breakage, you can repair this with pastry trimmings.

Use the baking parchment to line the pastry case and then fill with baking beads or uncooked rice or dry lentils (this prevents the pastry from rising away from the tin whilst blind baking).

Bake the pie case in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove the baking paper and baking beads/rice/lentils and place the pastry case back into the oven for another 5 minutes until the pastry is just golden. Use a serrated knife to carefully trim the remaining crust so it is level with the top of the pie tin.

All golden, and ready for the fillings.

In your saucepan, heat your butter (50 g), golden syrup (125 g) and light brown sugar (25g) along with a pinch of salt, on a low heat until the mixture is melted and smooth. Take the pan off the heat and fold in the cornflakes (100 g).

Take your pastry base and add your raspberry jam (125g), use the back of a spoon to smooth the jam into an even layer over the pastry.

You want a good layer of jam on the bottom of that pastry case.

Pour the cornflake mix over the top of the jam layer and gently press it down until the jam is completely covered.

Return the tart to the oven for 5 minutes until the cornflakes are golden and toasted.

Did somebody say "dessert"?

Allow to cool slightly before serving with a generous serving of hot custard. If you wanted to, you could also serve this with cream, or even ice cream, but custard gives you the authentic, British School Dinner experience.

I don't recall the portions being this generous at school.

I’ll be back next month with my version of the Tres Leches Cake, a luxurious, fruit filled celebration cake which has been the birthday cake of choice for Cakes Jr. since 2022.

Until then,

Share joy, share love, share cakes.

And don’t forget to