It is amazing what you remember about someone who has long passed. I was eight years old when my great-grandmother passed away. I don’t remember too much about her. She was very small, not even five foot. Pale green walls spring to mind.
Great Gran's Eggless All Bran Loaf
By Robyn McLaughlin
They would often reflect the sun which poured into the living room of her St. Andrews flat and shine a warming trail onto the faded pink armchair where she would sit. I could possibly still take you to her flat today, 12 years later. Well, maybe the right street. The thing is, I don’t remember much at all about my great grandmother, I couldn’t tell you her right name, she always was refereed to by nickname, nor could I recall what her voice was like or how she used to sign my birthday cards.
​What I can tell you, however, is that she was an incredible baker. I mean INCREDIBLE. So much so my sister and I would refer to her as ‘Granny with the Biscuits’. From caramel shortbread to Christmas cake, my Great Gran would be the envy of Paul Hollywood’s Bake-off tent. I don’t remember ever leaving her home feeling hungry. She always had someone visiting her so, naturally, was always baking. Often, we would arrive just a she was taking her ‘peenie’ off and plating up some shortbread, still warm of course.
That’s about as far as the memories go, unfortunately. A small lady with green walls and a plate of fairy cakes. It’s not much but, for me, that’s who my Great Gran was. She lives on in the voices of the stories of those that knew her, the objects retained that she left behind and a small tartan
'...a small lady with green walls and a plate of fairy cakes...'
book. The book, plain and unassuming. Falling apart at the seams with paper coming away from the spine and covered in years of flour, sugar and pastry. The pages yellow, stained and bleeding ink from the swirling hand-written recipes. Decades old tape barely holds magazine cut outs and scribbled down notes in place whilst favourite recipes and folded newspaper clippings dating back decades struggle to stay inside causing the book to almost double in size. Slotted in random pages are multiple recipe notes with unfamiliar handwriting and addresses. These had been sent to Great Gran. I suppose she must have sent some too.
The small book, humble in design, boasts a cache of treasures with a legacy. At one point a companion for a little old lady with
By Robyn McLaughlin
By Robyn McLaughlin
a sweet tooth, it is now something I struggle to pick up out of fear of it falling apart. Rediscovering my Great Grans recipes has been something of a portal through time. As unknown recipes become flavours and smells from my childhood, ingredient by ingredient it’s like learning more about my Great Gran gaining an understanding of the joy she got from baking.
'...a little old lady with a sweet tooth...'
By Robyn McLaughlin
My mother and I came across the Bran Loaf recipe a few weeks ago at the beginning of the UK’s lockdown. We were already in the middle of recreating a couple of Great Grans recipes but were running low on eggs and not wanting to use anymore. This recipe was intriguing, and we wanted to see how it would work out. After the fourth attempt, yes, we made one a week since lockdown began, we have the perfect Bran Loaf. Hopefully one that
would have made ‘Granny with the Biscuits’ proud.
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1 cup All-Bran
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1 cup Dried fruit (we used a mixture of raisins and sultanas)
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1 cup Light brown sugar
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1 cup Milk
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1 cup Self Raising flour
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Oil or butter for greasing
Ingredients
Method
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Put the All-Bran, dried fruit, sugar and milk into a bowl and stir well. We used a cup which held 360ml.
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Leave in the fridge for 24 hours to allow the liquid to be soaked into the All-Bran.
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Preheat the oven to around 150 degrees(fan).
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Add the flour and combine, the mixture should be stiffer than a typical cake batter but still able to pour.
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Using a 2-pound baking tin, grease well with oil or butter placing baking paper on the bottom and the ends. This will make it easier to lift the cake out once baked.
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Cook for around an hour or until its well risen, golden brown and a skewer comes out clean. Remember to adjust cooking time depending on cup size. A smaller cup size won’t take as long to cook.
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Wait until cooled and serve. Spread on some butter for an extra little bit of decadence.
By Robyn McLaughlin