Fruity Tea Loaf

Have you ever baked something that came out of the oven perfect and tasted divine, to then lose the recipe and never be able to bake it again? Yeah. That’s what happened to me with this fruity tea loaf. I can’t remember where I found this recipe on the internet but whoever originally posted this, I thank you from the bottom of my heart because it is the best tea loaf I have ever had the pleasure to bake and eat. Luckily, I found the recipe recently on a scrappy piece of paper hidden among a collection of random stuff in our kitchen. There was no title on the page, just a simple list of ingredients and vague instructions. The best kind of kitchen mystery!

So without further ado, here is an essential tea loaf recipe...

First thing to note is this recipe uses the American cup system, something I have struggled with over the years. I just have not been able to comprehend how the Americans can rely on cup measurements when cups vary in size! Grams and ounces just feels a lot more reassuring to the baker who craves specificity to avoid cake failures. Anyway, I let my own measurement anxieties go and chose a mug with which I would measure all my ingredients. My advice would be, it is a mug you need, not a cup. If it feels too dainty, it is not a mug. This is what I used for my 'cup':

Ingredients

1 cup water infused with a tea back (just normal English breakfast style please)

4 cups sultanas

1 cup caster sugar

¾ cup butter (cut butter into cubes to get an accurate measurement)

2 cups plain flour

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 teaspoon mixed spice

2 eggs, beaten

Method

1)      Preheat the oven to 150°C/ 300 F/ Gas Mark 2. Line a 9 x 5 inch loaf tin with baking paper or a made to fit paper case.

2)      Heat the black tea, sultanas, sugar and butter in a large saucepan. Bring this mixture to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring regularly. Take off the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes.

3)      Meanwhile, sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and mixed spice into a wide mixing bowl. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet mixture. Throw in the beaten eggs and quickly stir everything together to avoid the heat of the liquid cooking the eggs.

4)      Once everything is well combined spoon the cake mixture into the loaf tin and even the top with the back of a spoon. Place on the middle shelf in the oven for 1 hour 30-50 minutes. After 1 hour place foil over the top of the cake to prevent it burning. At the 1 hour 30 minutes mark, test the cake with a knife or skewer. If the skewer comes out clean the cake is baked, however if some batter remains on the skewer leave the cake in a bit longer. Once baked, allow the cake to cool in the loaf tin.

5)      Slice into generous slices and serve with a nice cup of tea. This loaf cake is nice with a spreading of butter.