Our favourite traybake cake recipes for easy teatime treats
Traybake cakes are the perfect fuss-free solution for sweet treats, easy to bake and serve for a crowd.
Round layer cakes and ornate bundt cakes look pretty, but a traybake cake, sliced into neat squares can be easier to serve when catering for a special occasion, and they're usually much quicker to whip up!
That's why we've turned some of our favourite classic cake, recipes from carrot cake to lemon drizzle cake, into traybakes.
Our go-to traybake cake has to be the nostalgic school dinner cake - which is an easy vanilla sponge baked in a 20.5cm x 30.5cm baking tin and topped with a traditional and super-easy glacé icing and then sprinkled with hundreds and thousands.
Toasted Coconut Cake
You don’t need any fancy equipment to assemble this easy cake – simply mix, bake and enjoy.
Recipe: Toasted Coconut Cake
Vegan Chocolate Courgette Cake
You’d never know this cake contains courgettes – they can’t be seen at all when baked, but their presence helps add moisture and binds the cake (in place of egg).
Recipe: Vegan Chocolate Courgette Cake
Peach Melba Traybake
Based on the classic dessert created by French chef Auguste Escoffier, this fruity cake brings out the best of both the peach and raspberry flavours. This cake is easy to make gluten-free, simply use a suitable self-raising flour.
Recipe: Peach Melba Traybake
Red Velvet Traybake
This retro, cocoa-flavoured favourite is perfect for a celebration.
Recipe: Red Velvet Traybake
Rhubarb and Custard Meringue Traybake
A beauty with definite school dinner nostalgia about it – in a good way!
Black Forest Gateau Traybake
We’ve turned the retro classic into a traybake cake that’s soaked with kirsch syrup! If you want to make this cake booze free, then use tinned cherries in syrup instead.
Recipe: Black Forest Gateau Traybake
Eggnog Traybake
We’ve turned the popular festive beverage into a light a fluffy traybake cake! If you want to make this cake alcohol-free, then simply omit the rum syrup.
Recipe: Eggnog Traybake
Tres Leches Cake
The literal translation of tres leches is three milks and originates from Mexico. This rich and decadent dessert is a must-try if you love creme caramel or dairy desserts. When pouring the two milks over the cake, don’t worry if they don’t sink in immediately - it will absorb eventually, but takes a bit of time.
Recipe: Tres Leches Cake
Victoria sponge traybake cake
Victoria sponge is a classic cake recipe that should be at the top of any baking list when it comes to birthdays, afternoon teas and big celebrations. This Victoria sponge recipes is a traybake - so it's easier to slice when feeding a crowd.
Recipe: Victoria sponge traybake cake
Banoffee pie traybake cake
We've taken the classic banoffee combination and turned it into a traybake cake recipe. If you're a fan of banoffee pie, we'd also recommend our banoffee pie cookie recipe.
Recipe: Banoffee pie traybake cake
Biscoff traybake cake
This Biscoff traybake couldn't be easier. In fact it only uses three ingredients - Biscoff, eggs and baking powder.
Recipe: Biscoff traybake cake
Carrot traybake cake
This soft and fluffy carrot cake recipe is topped with a delicious cream cheese frosting. If you prefer a classic round carrot cake check out our best ever carrot cake recipe.
Recipe: Carrot traybake cake
Millionaire Brownie Traybake
This recipe combines two classic bakes... brownies and Millionaire's Shortbread. Fudgy brownie studded with shortbread topped with caramel and chocolate.
Recipe: Millionaire Brownie Traybake
Lemon drizzle traybake cake
Lemon drizzle cake is the ultimate cake if you're planning on snatching the office bake off crown.
Recipe: Lemon drizzle traybake cake
Jam sponge traybake
Jam sponge pudding is a nostalgic classic. This takes the school dinner fave and turns it into a traybake cake.
Recipe: Jam sponge traybake
Creme eggs traybake cake
This Easter baking recipe is an indulgent treat. A gooey chocolate traybake is topped with a rosette of buttercream and half a mini creme egg.
Recipe: Creme eggs traybake cake
Strawberry milkshake traybake cake
A traybake cake that taste just like a strawberry milkshake is the perfect birthday cake.
School dinner cake
Nostalgic baking recipes have been growing in popularity. This school dinner cake is not only comforting but also, easy to make. It's a vanilla sponge, topped with icing and sprinkled with hundreds and thousands. A wonderful treat to brighten the day.
Recipe: School dinner cake
Chocolate traybake cake
This chocolate traybake cake, decorated with Smarties, would make the perfect birthday cake.
Recipe: Chocolate traybake cake
Amaretto Sour tray bake
This cocktail inspired recipe is really just a lemon drizzle cake - with the addition of amaretto.
Recipe: Amaretto Sour tray bake
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
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