Kate Keogh, the daughter of a former school dinner lady, has achieved viral fame on TikTok by sharing simple, nostalgic recipes for classic school dinner treats. Leveraging her mum's 'insider recipes' from her time as a school kitchen assistant, Kate has tapped into a widespread longing for childhood favourites, delighting social media users across the platform.

One of the first recipes to capture significant attention was a simple school sponge cake, often served with pink custard and sprinkles. Kate's video, posted under the username @kate_keo, quickly racked up over 425,000 views, with many commenters expressing how the delicious-looking bake brought back a flood of memories from their own school days. The five-ingredient sponge cake has been a staple in dinner halls for decades, and thanks to Kate, fans can now recreate it at home. The ingredients for the sponge include 280g unsalted butter, 280g golden caster sugar, 280g self-raising flour, 5 eggs, and 2 tsp Madagascan vanilla extract. For the icing, 500g icing sugar is combined with 5-6 tsp water, and sprinkles are added. The iconic pink custard requires one tub of custard and a splash of pink food colouring.

The method for the sponge cake is straightforward: cream the butter and caster sugar until pale and fluffy, then add the eggs and vanilla essence. Sieve in the self-raising flour and mix until combined. The mixture is then placed onto a baking tray and baked for 30-35 minutes until golden. Once cooled, the cake is turned over, iced on its flat side, and topped with sprinkles. The pink custard is prepared by adding food colouring to regular custard, heating it in the microwave, and serving it alongside the cake.

Following the success of the sponge cake, Kate and her mum continued their TikTok series, with another treat, known at Kate's school as a 'crackolet' but more widely recognized as cornflake tart, also going viral. This crunchy, gooey dessert was another highlight of school dinnertimes and its recipe video garnered an impressive 1.8 million views, unlocking core childhood memories for countless viewers who fondly recalled similar treats, sometimes called 'Cracknel.' The recipe calls for 60g butter, 4 tbsps golden syrup, 1 tbsp cocoa powder, and cornflakes.

To make the cornflake tart, the butter and golden syrup are melted together in a pan on the hob. Once melted, the pan is removed from the heat, and the cocoa powder is added and mixed well. A generous portion of cornflakes is then poured into a mixing bowl, and the chocolate mixture is added and thoroughly combined. Finally, the mixture is placed into cake cases and left to set for approximately one hour. These simple yet beloved recipes, shared by Kate Keogh and her mum, continue to resonate deeply with a wide audience, proving the enduring appeal of traditional school dinner puddings.