Halloween Spooky Sponge
Teatime just got spooky! Make our Halloween Spooky Sponge and sit down for a cuppa with a creepy treat. We've kept the calories down by swapping half the sugar for sweetener and spreading reduced-sugar jam on top, so it’ll be frightfully nice as the centrepiece of your spooktacular spread.
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NutritionPer Serving
- Calories75
- Carbs13g
- Protein1.5g
- Fat3.1g
- Saturates0.8g
- Sugars5.3g
For the full list of ingredients and comprehensive instructions, please see the recipe card below. Before you scroll, there’s important stuff in the blurb!
There’s nothing scary about this easy-peasy cake recipe. Our slimming-friendly sponge is light and fluffy, flavoured with vanilla and topped off with a sticky layer of reduced-sugar apricot jam.
Cut into low-calorie squares, it’s perfect if you’ve been looking for a centrepiece for your Halloween party table.
We’ve decorated our Spooky Sponge with a spider web theme, but you can let your imagination run wild with any kind of creepy designs. Why not get the whole family involved with making it look as spooktacular as possible? There are all kinds of wafer and sugar spider decorations in the supermarkets – just bear in mind that you’ll need to work out any additional calories when using these.
You’ll find this dreamy sponge too delicious to save for once a year! Forget the creepy-crawly themed decorations and bake yourself a teatime treat to enjoy with a cuppa all year round.
What diets is this Halloween Spooky Sponge suitable for?
Our Halloween Spooky Sponge can be enjoyed on vegetarian and dairy-free diets. You could also make this recipe gluten-free, as long as you swap the following ingredients for suitable gluten-free alternatives:
- Self-raising flour
- Baking powder
If you’re cooking for people with allergies, be extra careful when checking ingredients and preparing food!
Do you need any special ingredients to make Halloween Spooky Sponge?
You’ll need to grab some readymade black writing icing, which can be found in most supermarkets in the cake decorating aisle.
We like to decorate this cake with wafer spider cake decorations, but there are sugar spider cake decorations available too. There are various brands available from Amazon, larger supermarkets and specialist cake decorating shops. If you use sugar cake decorations, please remember to adjust the calories accordingly.
You’ll need an ovenproof dish that measures 20 x 22cm to make this recipe.
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This Pyrex Rectangular Dish with Plastic Lid is really handy for baking and storing leftovers.
An electric hand whisk is handy, but not essential. We like this budget-friendly Russell Hobbs Food Collection Electric Hand Mixer.
How many calories are in this Halloween Spooky Sponge?
There are 75 calories per portion in this Halloween Spooky Sponge, which means it falls into our Everyday Light category.
This Halloween Spooky Sponge is perfect if you’re following a calorie controlled diet, and fits well with any one of the major diet plans such as Weight Watchers.
As a guide, an average man needs around 2,500kcal (10,500kJ) a day to maintain a healthy body weight. For an average woman, that figure is around 2,000kcal (8,400kJ) a day. Obviously, if your goal is to lose weight then you might want to adjust these slightly! You can read more about these recommendations on the NHS website.
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 160°C and grease a 20 x 22cm ovenproof dish well, using the extra reduced-fat spread.
Step 2
Place the flour, reduced-fat spread, white granulated sweetener, caster sugar, baking powder, eggs and vanilla extract in a medium mixing bowl. Use an electric whisk to beat together for 1-2 minutes. Alternatively you can use a wooden spoon, but it will take more effort.
Step 3
Use a rubber spatula to scrape the mixture from the mixing bowl and into the greased ovenproof dish. Level the surface with a knife and place in the preheated oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes until risen and golden all over. When you insert a small, sharp knife into the centre, it should come out clean.
Step 4
Place the jam in a small bowl and stir until smooth. Push the jam through a small sieve to remove any bits, then spread the jam all over the top of the warm sponge.
Step 5
Leave the sponge to cool completely before decorating. You can leave the sponge in the dish and pipe a spider web on top using black writing icing. Then add spider cake decorations and cut into 16 squares. If you’d prefer to serve the whole sponge on a large plate, loosen each square with a small palette knife and lift out of the dish one by one. We found this was easier than turning out the whole sponge. Place the sponge squares on a large serving plate and rearrange into the whole sponge and decorate as above.
What could I serve with this Halloween Spooky Sponge?
Put on a big spooky spread by serving this cake alongside an assortment of other Halloween treats…
How do you know when Halloween Spooky Sponge is cooked?
You should cook this Halloween Spooky Sponge until it’s lightly golden and a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean. This will take around 20-25 minutes.
Here in the UK, the standard advice is to cook food until it has reached 70°C and maintained that temperature for 2 minutes. This is to keep you and your family safe!
How long can you keep Halloween Spooky Sponge in the fridge?
You can store any leftovers of this Halloween Spooky Sponge in an airtight container for 1-2 days.
Can I freeze Halloween Spooky Sponge?
Yes! You can freeze the sponge cake, but it’s best to do so before you add the decorations.
- Choose a container or a bag that is suitable for freezing and place the cake in a single layer.
- Label your dish with the name of the recipe and the date that you froze it on.
- Defrost thoroughly at room temperature before decorating.
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Halloween Spooky Sponge
Teatime just got spooky! Make our Halloween Spooky Sponge and sit down for a cuppa with a creepy treat. We've kept the calories down by swapping half the sugar for sweetener and spreading reduced-sugar jam on top, so it’ll be frightfully nice as the centrepiece of your spooktacular spread.
-
Prep Time
20 MINS
-
Cook Time
25 MINS
- KCals 75
- Carbs 13G
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160°C and grease a 20 x 22cm ovenproof dish well, using the extra reduced-fat spread.
- Place the flour, reduced-fat spread, white granulated sweetener, caster sugar, baking powder, eggs and vanilla extract in a medium mixing bowl. Use an electric whisk to beat together for 1-2 minutes. Alternatively you can use a wooden spoon, but it will take more effort.
- Use a rubber spatula to scrape the mixture from the mixing bowl and into the greased ovenproof dish. Level the surface with a knife and place in the preheated oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes until risen and golden all over. When you insert a small, sharp knife into the centre, it should come out clean.
- Place the jam in a small bowl and stir until smooth. Push the jam through a small sieve to remove any bits, then spread the jam all over the top of the warm sponge.
- Leave the sponge to cool completely before decorating. You can leave the sponge in the dish and pipe a spider web on top using black writing icing. Then add spider cake decorations and cut into 16 squares. If you'd prefer to serve the whole sponge on a large plate, loosen each square with a small palette knife and lift out of the dish one by one. We found this was easier than turning out the whole sponge. Place the sponge squares on a large serving plate and rearrange into the whole sponge and decorate as above.
Looking for Slimming World Syns or Weight Watchers (WW) Points?
With ever-changing plans and point calculations, we have made the decision to remove WW Points from the website - referring to your individual plan or advice from your consultant is always going to give the most accurate results.
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Recipe notes
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2 comments
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LesleyTuesday 8th October 2024
Hi,I’m confused when you say to make sure to use white granulated sweetener that has the same weight and texture as sugar as my sweetener is like a powder and I wasn’t aware that you could get a more granular type also could you use a grease proof liner in your baking tin rather than greasing the tin and enabling the cake to be removed easily
HollyTuesday 15th October 2024
Hey Lesley, we use granulated sweetener the same texture and weight as sugar so a like for like ratio. For example, 100g of granulated sweetener is around 7tbsps, but 100g of powdered sweetener is almost a full tub. We have more information HERE. Yes you could use some non-stick baking paper or a paper liner to make it easier to remove the cake. Hope that helps!
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