Vegan Earl Grey tea loaf - a slice of this easy, fat-free fruity tea loaf spread with vegan butter is an ideal mid-morning or afternoon snack. It keeps well, is simple to make and is absolutely delicious! Eggless and dairy-free.
Tea loaf is a classic British cake consisting of a simple fatless loaf cake filled with juicy, tea soaked dried fruit with a hint of spice.
It is moist and tender with a slightly chewy texture, and it makes a fantastic mid morning or afternoon snack with a cup of tea.
It is delicious as it is but I like it best spread generously with vegan butter, the cake itself is fat-free after all!
This vegan Earl Grey tea loaf recipe comes from Great British Vegan by Aimee Ryan. She kindly sent me over a copy to review and try a recipe from.
Great British Vegan By Aimee Ryan:
Great British Vegan is a lovely new cookbook by fellow British vegan food blogger Aimee Ryan of Wallflower Kitchen.
I have been following her blog since before I even went vegan myself and have enjoyed making several of her recipes so I knew the cookbook was going to be good!
As the name suggests, Great British Vegan is all about plant-based versions of classic British dishes. Those familiar, comforting meals and bakes that are sadly not vegan friendly; until now that is!
The recipes are simple to make and don't use any weird or hard to find ingredients so they are suitable for everyone.
The book covers everything from breakfasts to weeknight dinners to Sunday roast to Afternoon tea to British bakes to vegan essentials and more!
So many of the recipes have caught my eye and I am particularly looking forward to trying out cheesy pea soup, cider and bean stew with herby dumplings, bourbon tiffin and veggie Wellington. And next years Christmas dessert is going to have to be Aimee's chocolate orange Christmas pudding!
Nearly every recipe has a beautiful accompanying photograph, something that I think is extremely important in a cookbook; you need to be able to see what the dish is supposed to look like!
I love that the recipes have a focus on comforting, homely classics. I am very keen on veganising traditional recipes myself, particularly of the comfort food and cake kind, so Aimee's book is right up my street.
Aimee generously allowed me to recreate and blog this vegan Earl Grey tea loaf recipe from Great British Vegan. The recipe was easy to follow and the cake is absolutely delicious and just as I remember tea loaf tasting in my pre-vegan days.
Overall I think that Great British Vegan is a wonderful cookbook that is perfect for both new and seasoned vegans alike and it is a very welcome addition to my collection.
What Do I Need To Make Vegan Earl Grey Tea Loaf?:
Tea: This recipe uses Earl Grey tea to soak the fruit in which gives the loaf a lovely flavour, but regular black tea will work just as well. Use tea bags rather than loose leaf for ease.
Mixed dried fruit: I used a pre-mixed bag of dried fruits which most supermarkets sell - a mix of raisins, sultanas, currants and candied mixed peel. You can use whichever dried fruits you like provided the weight is the same but raisins and/or sultanas and currants is traditional.
The fruit needs to be soaked in the tea overnight so make sure that you start the day before you want to bake the cake!
Unsweetened soy yogurt: this replaces the usual eggs and helps to keep the loaf lovely and moist. I haven't tried it with coconut yogurt instead but see no reason why it wouldn't work.
Mixed spice: mixed spice adds just a hint of warming spice flavour. You can use apple or pumpkin pie spice instead.
Dark brown sugar: dark brown sugar adds moisture and flavour. This cake is only lightly sweetened as lots of sweetness also comes from the fruit.
Self-raising flour and baking powder: self-raising flour with a little bit of extra baking powder makes the loaf light and fluffy.
How To Make Vegan Earl Grey Tea Loaf:
(For ingredients and full instructions see the recipe card below)
The fruit needs to be soaked overnight before you bake the cake so do bear that in mind before you start!
Place the mixed dried fruit and a couple of Earl Grey tea bags in a large bowl and bour over 300ml of just boiled water. Give it a stir, cover and leave to soak overnight.
The following day, mix together self-raising flour, baking powder, mixed spice and dark brown soft sugar in a large bowl.
Add unsweetened soy yogurt and the fruit mixture, including the soaking water. Squeeze the teabags to get all of the flavour out then throw them away. Stir everything together to form a batter.
Pour it into a greased and lined 2lb loaf tin and spread it level. Bake the tea loaf for 1 hour until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Leave it to cool in the tin for a few minutes before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
If you want the loaf to have a glazed, sticky finish, heat some marmalade with a splash of water in a small pan until it is runny then brush it over the top of the loaf while it is still warm.
Top Tips:
For the best results make sure that you follow the recipe closely. As always, I highly recommend weighing your ingredients using the gram measurements (with a digital scale), rather than the cup conversions. Cup measurements are simply not accurate enough for baking and I cannot guarantee the best results if you use them.
The fruit needs to be soaked in the tea overnight so do make sure you start the day before you want to bake the tea loaf.
The Earl Grey tea can be swapped for English Breakfast tea or regular builders brew. I don't recommend using green, white or fruit/herbal teas; stick to black tea.
How To Store It:
This vegan Earl Grey tea loaf will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to five days.
I imagine it would also freeze well.
More Vegan Loaf Cakes:
Sweet potato bread with pecan streusel
If you tried this recipe let me know how it went! Rate it, leave a comment or tag @domestic_gothess on Instagram and hashtag it #domesticgothess
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Vegan Earl Grey Tea Loaf
Ingredients
- 2 Earl Grey tea bags
- 250 g (9 oz/1 ¾ cups) mixed dried fruit
- 275 g (9 ¾oz/2 cups + 3 Tbsp) self-raising flour
- 60 g (2oz/⅓ cup) dark brown sugar
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground mixed spice (apple/pumpkin spice)
- 90 g (3 ¼oz/6 Tbsp) unsweetened soy yogurt
- 2 Tbsp marmalade (optional)
Instructions
- The night before you want to bake the tea loaf, place the tea bags and the dried fruit in a large bowl and pour over 300ml (1 ¼ cups) of just boiled water. Give it a stir then cover and leave to soak overnight.
- The following day, preheat the oven to 180°C/160°Cfan/350°F/gas mark 4. Grease a 900g/2lb loaf tin and line it with greaseproof paper.
- Mix together the self-raising flour, sugar, baking powder and mixed spice in a large bowl.
- Add the soy yogurt and the fruit mixture, including the soaking liquid. Squeeze the teabags to get all of the flavour out then throw them away.
- Stir everything together to form a batter, making sure that no dry patches remain. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and spread it level.
- Bake the tea loaf for 1 hour until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave it to cool in the tin for a few minutes before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- If you want the loaf to have a glazed, sticky finish, heat the marmalade with a splash of water in a small pan until it is runny then brush it over the top of the loaf while it is still warm.
Notes
- For the best results make sure that you follow the recipe closely. As always, I highly recommend weighing your ingredients using the gram measurements (with a digital scale), rather than the cup conversions. Cup measurements are simply not accurate enough for baking and I cannot guarantee the best results if you use them.
- The fruit needs to be soaked in the tea overnight so do make sure you start the day before you want to bake the tea loaf.
- Recipe from Great British Vegan By Aimee Ryan.
marcia partridge
I made this today and came to get a piece to find my husband had polished most of it off!
Fantastic recipe as usual
Albertina
This looks so yummy! I wish I had a slice of this to eat right now!
Michele
Such a lush and easy recipe! I've made this for yoga retreats, and am soaking fruit overnight to bake one for an after class treat tomorrow! It always gets eaten, not even crumbs remain! Thanks for sharing.
Ashley Worthington
OMg - GURL!! All the vegan recipes keep mentioning vegetable oil but yours is so much moister and tastier!! The staff room at work is raving - no higher compliment xxx
CathyJ
I made this and the flavors are fantastic!!! But after soaking the fruit overnight, there was almost no tea (liquid) remaining. Thus I had a hard time folding the fruit/yogurt into the dry ingredients, as there was just not enough moisture, even after squeezing the tea bags for a few drops. I ended up adding a few T water to get everything to mix, but then I could not get it to bake all the way through. It was still too wet (all the way through the whole loaf), even after baking an extra 20+ minutes. I figured I must have mis-measured something, so I made the entire recipe again from scratch, and had the exact same result. Any thoughts what I'm doing wrong? It's SO delicious that I really want to figure this recipe out. I already have the ingredients to try it again, hee hee. Thanks for any ideas...
Hannah
Hi Cathy, hmmm, my only thought is that the extra liquid you added is the issue here, I can't think what else the problem might be. Did you use the gram measurements with a digital scale?
CathyJ
As a lazy American, I improperly use volume measurements rather than weight. I am not sure why American recipes always use volume. I was brought up with volumes and have always used them... I guess I need to go out and buy a food scale to cook the proper British way!! 🙂 I really DO want to perfect this recipe. The flavor was so amazing that I saved the undercooked cake for myself and toasted each slice til crispy. It was delicious, hahaha... but I'd never serve it to someone else that way, of course. 🙂
Hannah
I'm guessing that's probably the issue then! Volume is an extremely inaccurate form of measuring. I really do recommend investing in a digital scale, they are easy to use and give far more accurate results. There's less washing up too 🙂
Jade
Hi Hannah, I made this today for the first time but my top has cracked and split. Haven’t had this happen before and all my measurements were correct so I’m not sure what I could have done. Is there usually a reason why a loaf cake would crack on top? Thanks
Franny
Fantastic tea bread, dear Hannah (and Aimee)! My dried fruit also soaked up most of the liquid overnight, so I added 2 T. more orange juice while mixing it, which worked out well. The loaf baked up perfectly - firm yet tender, with delicious pops of flavor from the dried fruits (I added cherries and pineapple). It almost tastes like my mom’s German Christmas Stollen! I wonder if I could add a layer of marzipan? Will try during the next holiday season. Thanks for a delicious keeper recipe! Franny in California
Holly
The tea loaf is easy to slice and makes a slice sturdy enough to toast. Spice balance is very good. I did encounter a problem described by a few commenters. After soaking the fruit overnight there was not enough liquid to mix in with the flour. I added the rest of the small container of vegan yogurt and folded in additional liquid 1 tbl at a time until I was able to see no streaks of flour. I think it was 3tbl additional liquid. This amount of additional liquid gave me a hydrated, thick batter that was easily scooped into a 9x5 inch loaf pan. My loaf did need to bake a bit longer than the time listed in the recipe, but every oven is different. I am wondering if this problem of not enough liquid might be from differences between self-rising flour in the US and commonly available raisins in the US and those products in the UK. I used White Lily SR flour and Food Lion brand raisins. In researching the difference between US and UK SR flour, the only thing mentioned is no salt in the UK version. However, I have been baking for about 50 years and different varieties of wheat can give varied results. Also, the raisins recently available from local grocery stores are much drier than in past years. I hope this information about my experience with this Vegan Earl Grey Tea Loaf recipe is helpful.
Monica
Torn between this recipe and your other fruit loaf one as they both look so delicious - can I ask what the difference is in final texture and which you'd recommend as a first go? Thanks!
Hannah
Hi Monica, do you mean the malt loaf or the fruit cake loaf?
Monica
Hi Hannah, thanks so much - I mean the fruit cake loaf, but really it seems like you're a big fruit cake connoisseur so would be great to know which would be easier / more idiot proof!
Hannah
Hi Monica, they are all fairly simple; the fruit cake loaf has a traditional, crumbly fruit cake texture. The tea loaf has a moist, chewy texture and the malt loaf has a sticky, chewy texture so it really depends what kind of cake you are looking for! The only thing you may want to bear in mind is that the fruit cake loaf can become a bit dry if it is overbaked.
Monica
Ah thanks. I ended up trying the tea loaf and it was exactly as you said, slightly chewy, while I think I'm up for more of a crumbly traditional fruit loaf vibe so will give that a go next! Thanks for your wonderful recipes!!