Vegan Jam and Coconut Sponge

Vegan jam and coconut sponge - this retro school dinner jammy coconut sponge cake is a classic British pudding.

A meltingly tender vanilla cake is topped with raspberry jam and desiccated coconut. Serve it with custard for a truly nostalgic dessert.

Is it posssible to get nostalgia cravings for something you never actually ate?

I don't think that I ever actually had school dinner jam and coconut sponge when I was at school, and yet I have been getting some serious cravings for it recently!

Obviously I had to create a vegan version to satisfy those cravings!

This vegan jam and coconut sponge consists of a melt-in-the-mouth tender vegan vanilla sponge cake, topped with raspberry jam and desiccated coconut.

It is pure retro comfort food, especially served with lashings of custard!

It is really easy to make too, and is the kind of cake that is bound to satisfy everyone.

What Do I Need To Make Vegan Jam And Coconut Sponge?:

Plant milk: You can use any kind you like but it should ideally be unsweetened and soy milk is best as it has the highest protein content.

Non-dairy yogurt: I love using plant yogurt in vegan cakes, it is a great egg replacer and keeps the cake moist as well as adding flavour.

Either soy or coconut yogurt will work, ideally unsweetened. I like the Coconut Collaborative.

I haven't tested any substitutes for the yogurt I'm afraid. Oatly creme fraiche would likely work, and possibly unsweetened applesauce.

Vegan butter and oil: Generally in cakes butter adds flavour, but oil makes the cake more moist. I've gone for the best of both worlds and used both!

For the best results you should use a vegan block butter rather than the spreadable kind in a tub. I recommend Naturli Vegan Block or Flora Plant block.

For the oil I tend to use sunflower as it has a neutral flavour, though any neutral flavoured oil will work.

Vinegar: This reacts with the bicarbonate of soda to help the cake rise and give it a light texture. I use either apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar. You can also use lemon juice instead.

Vanilla extract: Can't make a vanilla cake without vanilla! Extract is better than essence and you can also use vanilla bean paste.

Caster sugar: Caster (superfine) sugar is best as it dissolves easily but granulated will also work.

Plain flour: Just regular plain (all-purpose) flour. I don't recommend swapping it for wholemeal, it will make the cake too dense.

I haven't tried making this cake gluten-free, but I suspect that it would work ok with a gluten-free flour blend.

Cornflour (cornstarch): Adding a bit of cornflour (cornstarch) gives the cake a lovely light texture. You can swap it for more plain flour if you don't have any.

If you have cake flour then you can swap both the plain flour and the cornflour for cake flour, so a total of 390g of cake flour.

Baking powder and bicarb: Using both baking powder and bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) will give you the best rise and texture. Don't swap one for the other, you will not get the same result.

Salt: a little bit of salt rounds out the flavour.

Jam: Technically you can use any kind of jam you like, though for the sake of authenticity it MUST be red. I recommend seedless raspberry.

Desiccated coconut: Do not use the sweetened kind, the cake is plenty sweet already, especially with the jam.

How To Make Vegan Jam And Coconut Sponge:

(Full measurements and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the page)

Start by sifting together the dry ingredients - plain flour, cornflour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt.

In a large bowl, whisk together non-dairy milk, non-dairy yogurt, melted vegan butter, oil, sugar, vinegar and vanilla extract until they are very well combined.

Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and whisk until no dry lumps remain.

Pour the batter into a greased and lined traybake tin and spread it level.

Bake for about 25 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 20 minutes then carefully turn it out onto a wire rack.

Spread a generous layer of jam over the top while the cake is still warm and sprinkle with desiccated coconut.

Allow to cool then serve with custard. Or ice cream. Or just snack on it as is. All are good options!

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. A gram is always a gram, but a cup won’t always measure out the same amount.

Make sure that you don't over-beat the batter as that can make the cake tough. Just mix it until no dry lumps remain. I recommend stirring it by hand with a balloon whisk.

Because it is important not to over-beat the batter, you need to make sure that your wet ingredients and your dry ingredients are extremely well mixed in their separate bowls before you combine the two together.

The cake will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for around five days.

Can I Freeze It?:

Yes this cake freezes well.

If you are wanting to bake the cake in advance and freeze it then I recommend not adding the jam and coconut. Wrap the baked and completely cooled cake well and freeze it on a baking tray so that it stays flat.

Allow it to defrost at room temperature then add the jam and coconut once it has defrosted.

If you are just freezing leftovers then it is fine to freeze it with the jam and coconut. Freeze them in a covered container for up to three months. Allow to defrost at room temperature.

More Retro Vegan Cakes:

This vegan jam and coconut sponge cake is amazing served with my easy vegan custard!

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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