Est. in Granny's kitchen Granny Bakes Recipes from the tin

Flick through the dividers

Baking through the decades

Granny's tin wasn't filled in a day. Cards went in as times changed: when butter was rationed, when sugar came back, when coffee mornings arrived and when every child needed a lunchbox. Here's the tin, divider by divider.

An old handwritten family recipe book open on a table
Copied out by hand, every one

Photo: Counselman Collection, CC BY-SA 2.0

  1. HeirloomsBefore 1940

    Handed down

    The cards at the very back of the tin, copied out from mothers and grandmothers. Regional bakes that were old when Granny learned them.

    Scottish Shortbread Heirlooms Biscuits Scottish Shortbread Three ingredients and patience. Buttery, sandy and snapped in half to share. 20 minsEasy Pale gold. Never brown. Treacle Tart Heirlooms Puddings Treacle Tart Golden syrup, breadcrumbs and lemon in a crisp pastry case. Sweet enough to make your teeth hum. 35 minsMedium Lattice for visitors Welsh Cakes Heirlooms Teatime Welsh Cakes Griddle-cooked, spiced and studded with currants. Eaten warm from the pan with a shake of sugar. 15 minsEasy Low heat, patience Sticky Gingerbread Loaf Heirlooms Cakes Sticky Gingerbread Loaf Dark, damp and treacly, and it gets better every day it sits in the tin. 50 minsEasy Better on day two Ginger Nuts Heirlooms Biscuits Ginger Nuts Crackle-topped, snappy and fiery with ginger. Made for dunking, and strong enough to survive it. 12 minsEasy One tray at a time
  2. 1940s1940 to 1949

    Make do and mend

    Wartime rationing meant a few ounces of butter and sugar a week. These are the bakes that stretched them, and they turned out to be some of the best-loved of all.

    Bread and Butter Pudding 1940s Puddings Bread and Butter Pudding Stale bread, a few eggs and a pint of milk turned into something wonderful. Waste nothing, want nothing. 40 minsEasy Use the ends of the loaf Bramley Apple Crumble 1940s Puddings Bramley Apple Crumble Sharp apples under a rubble of buttery oats. Serve with custard, thick and yellow. 40 minsEasy Custard, not cream Rock Cakes 1940s Teatime Rock Cakes Craggy little buns full of fruit, made in the time it takes the kettle to boil. 15 minsEasy Rough is right Baked Rice Pudding 1940s Puddings Baked Rice Pudding Creamy, slow-baked and skinned on top. Fight over the skin, then fight over the jam. 2 hrsEasy Save me the skin Anzac Biscuits 1940s Biscuits Anzac Biscuits Chewy oat and coconut biscuits made without a single egg. Wartime baking at its most resourceful. 12 minsEasy No eggs needed
  3. 1950s1950 to 1959

    Off the ration

    Sugar came off the ration in 1953 and butter in 1954. Teatime got its sponges, jam and cream back, and the tin filled up fast.

    Classic Victoria Sponge 1950s Cakes Classic Victoria Sponge Two light golden sponges sandwiched with raspberry jam and a cloud of cream. The cake every granny had a tin ready for. 25 minsEasy Same weight as the eggs! Proper Buttermilk Scones 1950s Teatime Proper Buttermilk Scones Tall, crumbly and best eaten warm with jam and clotted cream. Whichever goes first is your business. 12 minsEasy Jam first. No arguments. Jam Tarts 1950s Teatime Jam Tarts Little pastry cups of bubbling jam. The first thing most of us ever baked, standing on a chair at Granny's counter. 15 minsEasy One of each jam Fairy Cakes 1950s Cakes Fairy Cakes Small, light and iced with glacé icing and a sprinkle of hundreds and thousands. Not a cupcake. A fairy cake. 15 minsEasy Half pink, half white
  4. 1960s1960 to 1969

    Tea trolley days

    Coffee mornings, bring-and-buy sales and the Sunday tea trolley. Bakes to show off a little, but never too much.

    Bakewell Tart 1960s Puddings Bakewell Tart Crisp pastry, a layer of raspberry jam and almond sponge scattered with flaked almonds. 35 minsMedium Blind bake. Always. Coffee and Walnut Cake 1960s Cakes Coffee and Walnut Cake The grown-up cake on the trolley. Coffee sponge, coffee buttercream, walnut halves on top. 25 minsEasy Cool the coffee first Viennese Whirls 1960s Biscuits Viennese Whirls Piped rosettes of melt-in-the-mouth butter biscuit, sandwiched with buttercream and a dab of jam. 15 minsMedium Soft butter or no swirl Florentines 1960s Biscuits Florentines Lacy, chewy discs of almonds and glacé cherries with a wavy chocolate back. Made for passing round with the after-dinner coffee. 10 minsMedium Only 6 per tray! Pineapple Upside-Down Cake 1960s Cakes Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Tinned pineapple rings and glacé cherries baked under a sticky golden sponge, then flipped out with a flourish. 45 minsEasy Flip it WARM Lemon Meringue Pie 1960s Puddings Lemon Meringue Pie Crisp pastry, sharp lemon curd filling and a tall cloud of golden-tipped meringue. 50 minsMedium Meringue on HOT filling
  5. 1970s1970 to 1979

    Lunchbox years

    Traybakes and loaf cakes that travel well, for school lunchboxes, work flasks and long car journeys to the seaside.

    Lemon Drizzle Loaf 1970s Cakes Lemon Drizzle Loaf A tender loaf soaked in sharp lemon syrup while still warm so the top goes crunchy. 45 minsEasy Drizzle it HOT Golden Syrup Flapjacks 1970s Teatime Golden Syrup Flapjacks Chewy oats bound with butter and golden syrup. Four ingredients, one tin, no excuses. 25 minsEasy Cut while warm! Millionaire's Shortbread 1970s Biscuits Millionaire's Shortbread Shortbread base, thick soft caramel and a snap of chocolate on top. Three layers of pure luxury. 25 minsMedium KEEP STIRRING Jammy Heart Biscuits 1970s Biscuits Jammy Heart Biscuits Two crumbly shortbread rounds sandwiched with jam, with a heart cut out of the top so the jam shows through. 12 minsEasy Warm the jam Black Forest Gateau 1970s Cakes Black Forest Gateau Chocolate sponge, whipped cream, dark cherries and a snowfall of grated chocolate. The dinner-party showstopper. 30 minsMedium Whisk, whisk, whisk Chocolate Crispy Cakes 1970s Teatime Chocolate Crispy Cakes Cornflakes, melted chocolate and golden syrup spooned into paper cases. No oven, and nobody too small to help. 5 minsEasy Lick the bowl