This All-Bran Loaf Cake is so easy to prepare. It can enjoyed sliced on its own or with a pat of margarine, butter, and some fruit jam. It is also very nice toasted. We are a plant-based family so we use plant-based milk and a vegan all-bran alternative 'Tesco High Fibre Bran Cereal' but as this recipe is a vintage traditional recipe you can use your usual milk and of course regular All-Bran breakfast cereal.
This sweet loaf has the delicious flavours of warming cinnamon, juicy raisins and malty All-bran cereal. It is delicious toasted for breakfast or with a cuppa tea for morning break. The recipe has been adapted from a vintage Irish cookery book.
🧡 Why You’ll Love This All-Bran Loaf Cake
- 🥣 Just stir, soak, mix, and bake! This vintage loaf is fuss-free and perfect for beginner bakers.
- 💸 Uses budget-friendly, everyday ingredients like cereal, raisins, and flour with no fancy extras needed.
- 🍞 Packed with fibre from bran and fruit, this loaf cake makes a satisfying snack, breakfast, or lunchbox treat.
- 🍎 Easily adapted to any milk, can swap in sultanas or mixed fruit, or experiment with different spices.
- 🍰 Enjoy it plain, buttered, with jam, or toasted. Just like a tea loaf.
- 📖 Adapted from a traditional Irish recipe, this is a nice homely cosy bake.
- ✨ Made without eggs and works wonderfully with plant-based milk and vegan bran cereal as well as regular milk & All-Bran cereal.
How to prepare
This recipe uses soft (light) brown sugar but this can be replaced with caster sugar or granulated sugar. Also, the raisins can be switched out for sultanas if preferred.
We use plant-based milk such as soya, oat or almond milk but this recipe works fine for any type of milk so you can use your usual milk.
For the apple sauce we use Aldi Bramwells Bramley Apple Sauce but any apple sauce will work fine, however if you are vegetarian or have other dietary requirements you can use a medium egg instead.
Step 1: The day before you'd like to bake the loaf add the All-bran cereal, raisins and soft brown sugar to a bowl. Pour in the milk and give it a stir. Pop a lid over and leave to sit overnight.
Step 2: The next day give the mixture a good stir. Add in the apple sauce and sift in the flour. Add the cinnamon and mix until just combined..
Step 3: Add the mixture into a loaf pan and bake for 50-60 minutes until golden, firm and a skewer comes out clean.
Step 4: Once cool, it can be sliced and buttered with margarine or butter and/or fruit jam.
***please note: for US measurements click the 'US customary button' within the recipe and the measurements will switch to tablespoons, cups, and ounces.***
📖 Recipe
All-Bran Loaf Cake
Equipment
- 2 1b (900g) loaf pan
- greaseproof paper to line loaf pan
- Mixing bowl
- mixing spoon
Ingredients
- 60 grams All-bran cereal (or similar supermarket own variety, see recipe notes below for a vegan-friendly All-Bran dupe)
- 150 grams soft brown sugar (replace with caster or granulated if preferred)
- 145 grams raisins (or replace with sultanas or dried currants or a dried fruit mix or dried cranberries)
- 250 millilitres milk (we use soya, oat or almond milk but your usual milk will be fine for this recipe)
- 65 grams apple sauce (homemade or shop bought from a jar - we often use Aldi Bramwells Bramley Apple Sauce)
- 150 grams self-raising flour (measurement is before sieving)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon (can replace with a different spice such as ginger powder, nutmeg powder, mixed spice powder, or pumpkin spice or apple spice powder)
Instructions
The evening before or at least a few hours before baking:
- Add the All-bran cereal, sugar, raisins and milk to a mixing bowl. Stir to combine.60 grams All-bran cereal, 150 grams soft brown sugar, 145 grams raisins, 250 millilitres milk
- Place a lid or plate over the bowl and leave to soak.
The next day:
- Preheat the oven to 160°C Fan / 180°C / 350°F / Gas Mark 4.Prepare a loaf pan by greasing with a little oil or margarine and lining with greaseproof paper.
- Stir through the apple sauce into the All-bran mix. Sift in the flour and cinnamon and stir to combine.65 grams apple sauce, 150 grams self-raising flour, 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- Scoop the mixture into the loaf pan and bake on the middle oven shelf for around 50 minutes to 1 hour. It is ready when it is golden, firm and a skewer popped in comes out clean. (I baked this loaf cake with a fan oven and the loaf was ready just before 50 minutes)
- Leave in the loaf pan for about 20 minutes before carefully removing to cool on a cooling rack or bread board. Peel of the baking parchment before cooling completely.
To serve:
- As this is a loaf cake it will not be very soft like a cake but rather firm enough to be sliced and buttered with margarine or butter and/or fruit jam. It can also be toasted. Treat it like you would a scone or a tea bread. The outer crust will be more firm compared to a cake but it will soften up more as it is stored.
Notes
- Nutritional information is provided for guidance only and is not a strict calculation as ingredients vary.
- Store wrapped in greaseproof paper and/or kitchen foil for up to 4-5 days in a cool, dry area. The covered loaf cake can be kept in a covered container such as a bread or cake tin.
- As this is a loaf cake the outer crust is a little crustier compared with soft cake however the outside crust will soften as it keeps.
- Refresh staler slices by toasting or grilling. Or warmed up by placing in a hot oven for a few minutes.
- Once toasted, grilled or warmed up, a wee bit of butter or margarine spread over to melt in, is a very tasty addition.
- Wrap well with freezer and food safe wrap and place in the freezer for up to 3 months. Whole loaf cakes can be frozen or slice and freeze individual pieces.
- We are a plant-based family so we use plant-based milk and a vegan All-Bran alternative such as 'Tesco High Fibre Bran Cereal'. Breakfast cereals with added Vitamin D3 are not vegan-friendly so choose a cereal with added Vitamin D2 which is vegan-friendly, if you are vegan.
- As this recipe is a vintage traditional recipe you can use your usual milk and of course regular All-Bran breakfast cereal if you are not vegan or plant-based.
- We have used Aldi Bramwells Bramley Apple Sauce for this recipe many times and it works great. However, if you are vegetarian or have different dietary requirements you can replace the apple sauce with one medium egg.
Nutrition
More traditional loaf cake recipes
Loaf cakes are just so valuable as they use only a few everyday ingredients and are usually lower in fat, some don't require any additional fat such as baking margarine to be added, lower in sugar yet satisfy any sweet cravings. They can be sliced and spread with butter or margarine or fruit jam and best of all can be toasted and enjoyed for breakfast or as a nice snack. I often like having loaf cakes for lunch with some slices of cheese (dairy-free for me of course) and some salad bits such as sliced cucumber and cherry tomatoes.
A few of our family favourite loaf cake recipes are this Peanut Butter Bread and this Banana Bread which can be baked as a chocolate chip or a chopped nut banana bread. We also love this Weetabix Loaf Cake and this Cherry Bread.
All our recipes are prepared with everyday vegan-friendly ingredients but of course you can use your usual milk, and if in the recipe, your usual baking fat, butter, or margarine.
Comments
We would love to know how you got on with this recipe so do drop us a comment below. It's very much appreciated. Thanks so much. Jacq x
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