Fruit loaf recipe? Well what is a tea loaf and where are its origins?
A
tea loaf is an English cake, made with fruit and cinnamon (or other spices), and traditionally served sliced and spread with butter.
Tea loaf is now somewhat old-fashioned but is still available, and is particularly associated with Yorkshire.
Often in the making of tea loaves, the fruit (usually currants and sultanas) is soaked in cold tea to plump it before mixing it into the batter.
Yes and a very easy recipe that will take little preparation but tastes so delicious people will ask you for it again and again. I know it mentions that this is an old-fashioned recipe well I call it Retro! But its something I have made for thirty years and its always well received and the batch I did yesterday my husband would not believe I made them he insisted I had purchased them but on the basis that I have not been out of the house for days he had to agree that my fair bakers hands had actually made them. I am not sure if that is a compliment or not really. He did actually say it was one of the best cakes he had ever eaten. His feedback was a little difficult to get out of the cake cases and that is something I will have to work on. I think I should have just brushed the insides slightly with some oil or butter.
I purchased the mini loaf cases from
Morrisons and there home baking range is really good I was quite surprised at how many things they have in now compared to some other supermarkets. I just thought they would look so cute once cooked and with my recipe it easily filled the six cases.
Pre heat oven to 180 C/Gas 4/350 F
INGREDIENTS
- Sultanas (Can use mix fruit and some nuts)
- Chocolate Curls
- 1/2 pt cold tea
- 100g sugar I mix soft brown & caster
- 50 g butter melted (optional)
- 150 g plain flour
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1tsp baking powder
- Brandy (optional)
METHOD:
So my version is soak your fruit in the cold tea and I did add Brandy to this as well. You can also vary your teas like Earl Grey if you wish. I normally let this soak overnight to really plump the fruit.
This tea loaf is really a throw it all in and stir – so once you have the fruit ready add the sugar and egg and mix in the flour and bicarbonate and mix in slowly and thoroughly adding the melted butter (optional) and you may not need all the flour it must be thick but not like dough. That when you pick up mixture on your spoon it falls off. Make sure all the flour is blended in well and add to your buttered loaf tin or smaller ones and you can see from the picture that I have not overfilled the cases as it does rise well.
Bake 40- 50 mins and test by checking that no mix is left on a skewer – just pop them back in for a few mins if not cooked.
TOPPING: I blended soft brown sugar with caster sugar and sprinkled on top before placing in the oven. Once cakes had cooked for 35 mins I removed and placed chocolate curls on top so that they melted in. Return to oven to finish cooking.
Ingredients -
Overnight preparation time
1 to 2 hours cooking time
Makes 2 loaves
Preparation method
- Put the dried fruit into a large pan and cover with the bottled beer.
- Gently heat the fruit until the beer is hot, but not boiling. Remove from the heat, cover and leave overnight.
- When you are ready to cook the loaf, preheat the oven to 140C/275F/Gas 1.
- Add the sugar, flours, mixed spice and eggs to the fruit mixture. Stir well until all the ingredients are combined.
- Divide the mixture between two greased 500g/1Ib 2oz loaf tins.
- Bake for 1¼ hours until risen, pale brown and firm to the touch.
- Cover with a tea towel and leave on a wire rack to cool.
- Wrap the loaves tightly in cling film and keep in a cool, dry place for up to 6 weeks. This loaf is delicious buttered with raspberry jam or served with a piece of Wensleydale cheese.
Chai-spiced ginger and date tea loaf -
1-2 hours preparation time
30 mins to 1 hour cooking time
Serves 6-8
Ginger and date-studded sweet dough rippled with a signature blend of sweet Asian spices.
Equipment and preparation: you will need a free-standing mixer fixed with a dough hook.
Ingredients
- For the dates
-
- For the dough
-
- For the spice blend
-
Preparation method
- For the dates, in a small saucepan bring 150ml/5fl oz of water to the boil. Add the tea and boil for a minute. Strain the tea into a bowl and add the chopped dates. Set aside for ten minutes and then drain the dates using a sieve.
- Grease and line a 20cm/8in, round, loose-bottomed spring-form cake tin.
- For the dough, melt the butter in a small pan and warm the milk in a separate pan.
- In a bowl, combine the warm milk, butter, sugar and eggs. Stir in the yeast until thoroughly mixed. Set aside for five minutes.
- Put the flour and salt in the bowl of a free-standing mixer fixed with a dough hook. Add the yeast mixture, drained dates and chopped stem ginger and mix to a soft, smooth and shiny dough.
- For the spice blend, while the dough is mixing, crush the green and black cardamom seeds with the black pepper and star anise in a small pestle and mortar. Transfer to a small bowl and combine with the butter, jaggery (or palm sugar), cinnamon, ginger and vanilla paste to make a spreadable spiced butter. Set aside.
- When the dough is ready, roll it quite thin and at least 60cm/23½in long. With your fingers or the back of a spoon, spread the spiced butter all over the top of the dough. Roll up, quite tightly, from the long side, like a Swiss roll.
- Cut into 3 x 20cm/8in long pieces and arrange them vertically on the counter. Plait the pieces in a simple three-braid plait. Carefully lift the plait and arrange it in a circle around the inside of the prepared cake tin. There may be a little gap in the centre but this will fill in as the bread proves. Cover the top of the tin with cling film and place in a warm place to prove for one hour.
- Preheat the oven to 150C/fan oven 130C/300F/Gas 2.
- Place the tin in the oven and bake for about 35 minutes, or until golden-brown. While it is still hot, brush the top generously with the ginger syrup. Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before sliding a butter knife around the edge of the tin to release it.
- Remove the baking paper and leave on a cooling rack until completely cool.
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/alefruitloaf_83744
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/chai-spiced_ginger_and_38256
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