Manor House Sultana Cake (2024)

Published: May 9, 2020 · Modified: Nov 17, 2023 by Luke and Kay · This post may contain affiliate links · 84 Comments

You can't beat a simple old-fashioned cake recipe. This farmhouse-style cake has a scattering of Sultanas (you can add more if desired?) inside an indulgent crumbly vanilla sponge.

Follow along with our easy baking instructions in UK & US measurements to make this Manor House Sultana Cake.

If you don't want to commit to baking a larger cake, but still want a delicious sultana-filled cake, why not try making our rock cakes or fruit flapjacks?

What is Manor House Sultana cake?

If you love Mr Kipling's Manor House cake this recipe is for you! It is the closest thing to it we have made, we all know he does not share his secret recipe! But I can tell you this is exceedingly good 🙂

See our step by step slide show on how we made our Manor House Sultana cake, full ingredients and instructions can be found on the card below.

Making Homemade Sultana Cake

This is a quick and easy cake to put together! As long as you measure all ingredients out, there is no way of failing!

How many sultanas to use in Manor House cake recipe?

We think less is more regarding the amount of sultanas to add. Of course, if you want more, go ahead!

We used ½ cup (80g), which as seen in the pictures, gives a lightly fruited cake. Feel free to double or even triple it if you want.

How to make Sultanas plump and juicy?

Put sultanas in a saucepan with enough water to cover them and bring to a boil. Then, turn the heat off and allow them to sit for 10 minutes whilst you prepare the sponge mix.

Beat the sugar and butter until creamy (we used a mixer to help speed it up).

Add three eggs and stir to combine.

Add Vanilla Extract

Make a cornflour slurry using 1 tablespoon cornflour with 1 tablespoon of water, stir until no lumps and then add another 2 tablespoon of water. Pour into cake mixture and stir.

Sift flour into the bowl and finally add baking powder.

Mix all together.

See Also

Gata (Armenian Coffee Cake)Key Lime Bundt Cake - Life In The LofthouseRum Cake from Scratch - The Best Ever! - Texanerin BakingGluten-free Banana-Cherry-Muffins with Cherry-Frosting

How to stop sultanas from sinking into a cake

After the sultanas have been plumped from the boiling method and had 10 minutes to swell, drain the sultanas. Add a tablespoon of flour and toss the sultanas to be coated in flour.

Fold the sultanas into the mix. Place in a greased springform cake base I used a 20cm / 8inch round one and flatten the mixture as best you can.

Cook in a preheated oven at 160C (fan) /320F for 1 hour.

There you have it, a perfectly well-made Classic Sultana cake. Best served with a nice cup of tea!

Add a sprinkle of more sugar to the cake before serving it to your guests! Demerara sugar is best. However, this time, I did not have it to hand, so I used granulated sugar, which was still good!

Luke chose this for me to cook him for his birthday cake this year. Wonderfully scrumptious! We love a classic British Bake, our Madeira cake recipe is another of our favourites!

📖 Step by Step Recipe

Updated on 17/11/2023 to improve blog post image layout and include more cake recipe suggestions.

How to store Sultana Cake?

This cake keeps well. Store in a large airtight container or wrap well with cling film/ foil (ensure completely covered air will dry it out) at room temperature for up to 7 days.

That's if it will last that long before it gets eaten!

Looking for another fruit-filled recipe? Check out our classic British recipe for Bread Pudding.

More Cake Recipes

If you're looking for a delicious cake to wow your guests, we have a variety of cakes from chocolate Victoria sponge or a lemon drizzle cake or small chocolate chip cupcakes to choose from.

Hope you enjoy this Manor House Sultana cake as much as we do, please let us know in the comments how you get on.