These Old-Fashioned Vegan Granny Cakes are adapted from a vintage Country Kitchen recipe. Country Kitchen is a British magazine that was discontinued many years ago. Country Kitchen also published a few magazine-like books. The book that contains the Granny cakes is titled Puddings Down Memory Lane [2009] with the recipes collected by Clarissa Porter.
These adapted Granny cakes are delicious little vegan teatime buns flavoured with vanilla and filled with mixed dried fruit. Granny cakes are just wonderful with a nice cup of tea or coffee, and are so easy to bake with everyday pantry ingredients. The only problem with these tasty Granny cakes is that it is difficult to just have one...it's practically guaranteed everyone will want another. This recipe is a definite, tried and tested many times, keeper! So do save it!
And you don't have to be vegan to give these little gems a go - no special ingredients are required.
A Granny Cake is an old-fashioned bake and it is a little fruit bun that is similar to fruit cake but in a small cupcake sized portion. So it is ideal for those times when you don't fancy baking a large fruit cake but do want home-baked fruit cake!
Jump to:
Origin of granny cakes
Doing a little research into Granny cakes we discovered that there are other types of Granny cake recipes. Although not so much like the current Granny cake recipe, as many of the other recipes contain pineapple and sometimes pecans, and we suspect this type of Granny cake has its roots in the US.
However, these little Granny cakes are British in origin and were fondly nicknamed Granny cakes by an everyday home baker many years ago, so probably had a different original name. Maybe along the lines of... fruit tea buns or sweet tea cakes... as they would have been served with hot cups of tea or perhaps coffee.
Granny cakes are the perfect buns to always have in the cake tub to treat your family and visitors to delicious home baking. These cakes are also perfect for charity cake sales and fundraisers, and for those times you need a bake that will please a crowd.
British Granny cakes are the simplest bake, with just a little mixing required before scooping the thick cake batter into cupcake or fairy cake paper cases and baking for 20-25 minutes. A dusting of icing sugar is a humble but ideal decoration.
The original recipe called for a traditional wooden spoon and a granny style mixing bowl to authentically prepare these Granny cakes but of course any mixing spoon or bowl will do just as well!
We absolutely love these Granny squares that our eldest daughter crocheted and sewed together into a wee table mat. She had a well earned break from crafting to enjoy a warm freshly baked Granny cake and a nice cup of tea.
How to prepare
Granny cakes are so simple to bake and can be enjoyed warm shortly after baking. They are perfect for brunch, morning or afternoon tea, cozy evening snacks or just whenever you fancy.
The ingredients you will need for these vegan granny cakes are - vegan margarine, apple sauce [we used everyday apple sauce from a jar intended for savoury meals but any type of apple sauce can be used including home-made], plant-based milk, vanilla essence or extract, dried fruit mix, and granulated sugar.
Icing sugar or powdered sugar is optional for dusting over the baked cakes.
Step 1: Cream the margarine and sugar together with a mixing spoon.
Step 2: Add the apple sauce and vanilla essence.
Step 3: Pour in the plant-based milk and beat the mixture briskly to incorporate.
Step 4: Stir through the dried fruit mix.
Step 5: Divide the cake batter between 12 cupcake or fairy cake paper cases.
Step 6: Bake for 20-25 minutes.
Step 7: Leave to cool completely on a cooling rack or enjoy warm soon after removing from the oven.
Step 8: Dust with icing or powdered sugar before enjoying.
Granny cakes hot from the oven are so good warm with a nice cup of tea.
Recipe notes
Storage
Granny cakes can be stored within a cake tub, container or tin for 3-4 days. Although these little buns will probably be eaten by the 3rd day! And a second batch in the oven by the 4th!
Or freeze the Granny cakes [minus the powdered sugar topping] for 2-3 months. Wrap up well before freezing and store in a freezer proof container.
To refresh Granny cakes, pop them into a warm oven for a few minutes until warmed through.
Dried fruit mix or mixed dried fruit is a popular British baking ingredient and can be purchased as a mixture of dried fruits most commonly currants, sultanas, raisins and diced dried fruit peel.
Packages of dried fruit mix are usually used for fruit cakes, fruit loafs, fruit buns, steamed fruit puddings, Christmas cakes, to prepare homemade mincemeat for festive mince pies, etc.
Dried fruit mix is similar to trail mix but does not contain nuts, granola, chocolate drops or little sweets. Dried fruit mixes in other countries may also contain more exotic dried fruits such as peaches, mango, cherries, pineapple or papaya.
Dried fruit mix can be subbed for a mixture of individual dried fruits such as equal amounts of raisins, sultanas [golden raisins] and currants. A little amount of these dried fruits can also be removed and equal amounts of dried fruit peel added, if liked.
Alternatively, just use all raisins or currants or similar. Dried cranberries would be a tasty addition especially for the Holiday season.
Yes, these cakes will work with any type of milk.
Yes, you can use any type of margarine, butter, spread, block, that is intended for baking or cooking or that you have trialled with previous bakes and it has worked well. It's best not to use diet. lite, light, or low-fat margarine as these tend to have a higher water content which could affect your finished bake.
We like to use Stork baking spread, dairy-free Vitalite, or dairy-free Flora margarine for our bakes.
We use the jarred apple sauce from the supermarket which comes in a little jar and is intended to be served along with savoury meals - but this kind of apple sauce also works well in baking!
We have also used jarred apple puree that we sourced from our local whole food store. As well as home-made apple sauce which is simply prepared by stewing chopped apples in a small amount of water until very soft - and finished off by mashing and draining away any excess liquid if necessary.
Planning a vegan tea party? Children and adults alike, regardless of age, will love the pomp and splendour of a charming teapot accompanied by tea cups and saucers - especially if they are all quaintly mis-matched! Include a tray of Granny cakes for the ultimate British nostalgia.
More old-fashioned bakes - made vegan
Here are a few of our family favourite old-fashioned bakes made vegan and extra delicious! No eggs or dairy ingredients required! There is nothing more homely that pulling out a freshly baked cake out of the oven - it just makes the home feel that extra special and loving especially when you get to share the home-baking with loved ones.
Do give our Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake a try as its a brunch classic and once you try it it will likely become a new favourite, and this Old-Fashioned Ground Rice Cake just has the best texture and is sure to impress any tea guests especially if they are not vegan!
An old favourite is these Old-Fashioned Bramble Muffins and these muffins are easily adaptable so you can replace with the brambles [wild blackberries] with any fresh or frozen berry you prefer - we also include an adapted blueberry muffin recipe.
And for special desserts or just for a comfort food pudding you can't go wrong with this Welsh Apple Cake especially served with cream or custard - we like the Elmlea plant-based cream.
***please note: for US measurements click the 'US customary button' within the recipe and the measurements will switch to tablespoons, cups, and ounces.***
📖 Recipe
Vegan Old-Fashioned Granny Cakes
Equipment
- 12 cup muffin/cupcake tray [or a fairy cake tray]
- paper cupcake/fairy cake baking cases
- Mixing bowl
- mixing spoon
- sieve
Ingredients
- 175 grams self-raising flour [or plain/all-purpose flour with 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder plus a few pinches of salt]
- 100 grams plant-based margarine
- 100 grams granulated sugar [or caster sugar]
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 70 grams mixed dried fruit [or a mix of raisins, sultanas, dried currants, or just use one dried fruit]
- 70 grams apple sauce [either home-made or shop bought, we use jarred apple sauce that's intended as a condiment for savoury meals]
- 3 tablespoons plant-based milk [such as soya, oat, or almond or your usual milk]
Decorate:
- 1 tablespoon icing sugar [powdered sugar]
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160 Fan / 180C / 356 Fahrenheit / Gas 4.
- Add a paper baking case into each cup of the muffin baking tray.
- Add the margarine and sugar to a mixing bowl and cream together for a few minutes with a mixing spoon.100 grams plant-based margarine, 100 grams granulated sugar
- Next add the apple sauce, vanilla and plant-based milk. Stir well to incorporate the ingredients. Don't worry if the mix looks split or curdled, this is fine, just mix well.¾ teaspoon vanilla extract, 70 grams apple sauce, 3 tablespoons plant-based milk
- Sieve the flour directly into the mixture and stir the flour through the ingredients.175 grams self-raising flour
- Lastly stir through the dried fruit.70 grams mixed dried fruit
- Divide the cake batter between the 12 cupcake cases. Level the tops out a little, but not too much, just until they look a bit more even on the surface.
- Bake on the middle shelf for 25 minutes or until cakes are risen, golden and a skewer popped in comes out clean.[If using a fan oven check after 20 minutes as fan ovens tend to bake faster.]
- Cool in the baking pan for about 5 minutes before removing to cool on a wire rack.
- Once cool sieve the icing sugar over each cake to decorate.1 tablespoon icing sugar
- These little teatime cakes can be enjoyed warm soon after they come out of the oven or at room temperature. The icing sugar can still be added even though the cakes are warm - although keep in mind that the sugar will quickly be absorbed into the warm cake if left to sit.
Notes
- Nutritional information is provided for guidance only and is not a strict calculation as ingredients vary.
- Store Granny cakes for about 3-4 days. Although these tasty cakes are almost guaranteed to be gone well before the second-third day!
- Granny cakes can be frozen for 2-3 months. Wrap well with food wrap and place into a freezer-safe food container.
- Refresh Granny cakes by popping into a warm oven for a few minutes just to warm through. A little extra powdering of icing sugar can be added after warming, if liked.
- Instead of ready prepared dried fruit mix replace with roughly equal quantities of currants, raisins, and sultanas. Or just use one dried fruit such as raisins.
- We tend to use Stork baking spread for our bakes but we have had good results with dairy-free Vitalite and Dairy-Free Flora margarine.
- You can use any margarine, spread, block, butter, that you normally use for baking.
- We like to use oat, soya, or almond milk for baking but you can use your usual type of milk for this recipe.
- We used jarred apple sauce for these cakes - the type intended for serving along with savoury meals. You can use any type of apple sauce or apple puree including home-made apple sauce or puree.
Nutrition
Prepared these Vegan Old-Fashioned Granny Cakes? We would love to know how you got on with the recipe so do pop back and drop us a comment below and click the star ratings. It's very much appreciated. Thanks so much! Love Jacq x
Leave a Reply