There are few bakes more satisfying than a traditional teatime loaf cake, and this vegan marmalade cake combines staple cupboard ingredients to make something far more than the sum of its parts; warmly spiced, moistly fruity and tangy with marmalade. It couldn’t be more simple – and suitable for vegan diets to boot. To make it, you will need:
225g plain flour
3 level teaspoons baking powder
110g dark brown soft sugar (or coconut sugar, as I used)
110g spreadable vegan butter
zest of 1 small orange
zest of 1 small lemon
1 level teaspoon mixed spice
110g mixed dried fruit (or a mix of fruit and nuts – I went with date and pecan)
150ml milk
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
1 heaped tablespoon Seville orange marmalade
For the topping:
1 heaped tablespoon marmalade.
Preheat the oven to 180C/ 160C Fan/ Gas 4 and grease and line your loaf tin. Combine the flour, baking powder and sugar, then rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is coarsely crumbled. Add the grated lemon and orange rinds, the mixed spice and dried fruit, then the milk a little at a time, followed by the vinegar.
Stir until all the ingredients are evenly distributed, then stir in the marmalade – and you should have a good dropping consistency (so that if you tap a spoonful of the mixture on the side of the bowl, it drops off easily – you can add a touch more milk if necessary).
Now spread the mixture evenly in the prepared tin using the back of a tablespoon.
Bake on a lower shelf so the top of the tin is aligned with the centre of the oven for 1 1/4 hours, or until the cake feels firm in the centre. (After the cake has had 50 minutes, cover loosely with a piece of foil to prevent it browning too much.)
Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire cooling rack. Gently warm the remaining heaped tablespoon of marmalade and brush over the top of the cake to glaze.
Store in an airtight container. Delicious warmed and served with custard as a February-ready pudding.
Vegan marmalade cake adapted from Delia Smith.