My grandmother is highly suspicious of anything vegan. She likes to have meat, fish, eggs or cheese with every meal and only discovered a penchant for Chinese food at the tender age of 70. When she’s out at a restaurant and encounters anything slightly exotic and vegan or vegetarian, she casts a disdainful eye. She’s also an excellent baker. My love of cooking and baking was unleashed when she perched me on a chair, wearing one of her voluminous aprons, at two years’ old to bake biscuits alongside her.

So, when she said she loved this cake, it was a double whammy approval. (She joked that she may even convert to veganism.  Hmm). It’s the perfect cake for vegans and non-vegans alike: no weird gums or chemicals or frogspawn-y aquafaba, and it doesn't even need them. It’s moist, sticky and absurdly moreish. It can stand proudly beside any egg-containing cake, and win over any vegan cake-hating sceptic.

When I say it’s easy to make, I mean it is exceptionally easy. It can be whipped up in under 10 minutes and, if you're making mini loaves, it bakes within 10 minutes too. It’s also one of those cakes that tastes even more delicious the second day (if kept in an airtight container) – not that it will last that long. It can also be kept in the freezer for up to 3 months in an airtight container.

Vegan Date & Rooibos Cake - Recipe (makes 12 mini loaves or 1 big loaf) 

Ingredients

375g flour (white spelt or plain)

220g caster sugar

1 ½ tsp ground ginger

2 tsp ground cinnamon

3/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

½ tsp salt

150ml Rooibos tea (steeped for a while)

150g date syrup

150g vegetable oil

150g medjool dates, chopped (about 7 dates)

12-hole cupcake/ mini loaf tin lined with cupcake cases /greaseproof paper or 1 medium sized loaf cake lined with greaseproof paper

Method 

1)    Preheat oven to 180°C.

2)    In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, ground ginger, cinnamon, bicarb and salt.

3)    Pour water, date syrup and vegetable oil into a small pan and place on a medium heat. Stir continuously until the mixture starts to bubble. Then remove from the heat and pour the hot wet ingredients into the dry. Stir to combine and pour into the baking tins. If using a cupcake/mini loaf tin, pour the mix so that it’s 1cm from the top of the hole/case.

4)    Bake in a preheated oven for 10-15 minutes (checking after 8 minutes) for mini cakes, and 25-35 minutes (checking after 20 minutes for the single loaf, until an inserted cake tester comes out clean, without any adhering batter). They may need longer depending on the temperament of your oven, in which case, cover the top of the cake (to prevent it from burning) with tinfoil, and continue to bake until cooked all the way through. Let it cool.

HUNGRY FOR MORE?