School-days sprinkle sponge

Fancy a trip down memory lane? This classic schooldays sprinkle sponge will do the trick. Serve as an afternoon treat, or for dessert with warm custard

200g butter, softened, plus extra for the tin

200g caster sugar

4 large eggs

200g self-raising flour

50ml milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

200g icing sugar

Coloured sprinkles

Hot custard, to serve (optional)

1

Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Butter a 20 x 30cm cake tin and line with baking parchment. Put the butter and sugar in a large bowl and beat with an electric whisk for a few minutes until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, flour, milk and vanilla, and beat again until you have a smooth batter.

2

Scrape the batter into the prepared tin, spread right to the corners and smooth the surface. Bake for 40-45 mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Check at 5 min intervals if it isn’t ready after 45 mins. Leave the sponge to cool on a wire rack.

3

Mix the icing sugar with enough water to make a thick icing.

Spread the icing over the cooled cake, then top with lots of sprinkles – the surface should be almost completely covered. Leave for at least 1 hr to set. Cut into squares and serve with hot custard, if you like.

Imanaged to get outdoors for a glass of wine this week. A simple pleasure granted, but one that felt pretty special. Those few days of sunshine, that hint of warmth on your face as you looked skyward, have been quite the therapy session.

It wasn’t quite sitting outside with a glass of rosé weather, more loitering briefly with the coat on while you take two or three sips. I generally like the winter. A few logs on the fire, a hefty red in hand and I’m happy. But I’m talking crisp, blue skies and two degrees, not that miserable overcast, wet, eight degree weather we’ve been having. It’s been pretty grim so any hint that spring is about to breathe some joy into our lives is so, so welcome.

Even allowing for the weather I managed to enjoy a very nice Syrah with nothing but the heavens above. Interestingly enough, I’d two Syrahs this week which showed the grape’s diversity.

The first was a delicate, floral number with nice poise and focus while the other was a darker, more brooding number.

Starting the ball rolling, a Crozes Hermitage needed a while to breathe and reveal its focused fruit and minerality often the way with a better Old World vino.

Syrah from Northern Rhône doesn’t usually come cheap, but the low lying vineyards below the lofty slopes of Hermitage are one spot to look for value.

If Australia’s Barossa Valley is

one end of the scale with Syrah, then Northern Rhône is at the other. I think the modern palate is so used to fruit forward, big alcohol wines that sometimes we don’t appreciate the delicacy of a vino like this.

I was a little worried I was going to be disappointed, but 30 minutes was enough to bring out the red currant flavours, fine tannins, hints of aniseed and cocoa and a delicate touch of vanilla oak.

Next up was a wee number

that piqued my interest as it was Syrah in a place you don’t see much – Italy. Not only that, but it was made with the Italian technique of appassimento, where they dry the grapes a little to get a really concentrated juice. And it didn’t disappoint. The concentrated, raised flavours were full on, though it wasn’t as big and bold as I expected it be. I mean that in a good way though. It was muscular, but not overpowering. An animal of a wine. Seek it out.