Cadbury Chocolate Sponge Mix - 400g

Home baking in Britain runs on a box mix far more often than anyone admits at the school cake sale. A chocolate sponge sits right in the middle of it: birthday cakes, bake sale trays, a quick something when people are coming round for tea.

If you grew up with it, you want the cake to taste like the one at your nan's, and that means the Cadbury box. It is a small thing, but it is exactly the thing people go looking for when a birthday comes round and they want their kids to have the cake they had.

The 400g box keeps happily in a cool, dry cupboard until the mood strikes. The method is on the pack, and the sponge that comes out can be left plain, sandwiched together or covered in icing and sprinkles by whoever is youngest and least careful.

Cadbury is better known for Dairy Milk, of course, and plenty of people finish the sponge with a few squares of it or a handful of Buttons on top. Add a pot of tea and the afternoon sorts itself out.