Tea loaf is a British classic often preferred over traditional bakes like Victoria’s sponge and carrot cake for its density and rich flavours.
In Wales, a version of bara brith, meaning ‘speckled bread’ is widely enjoyed by cake lovers. It’s a beautifully moist cake thanks to the dried fruit being soaked overnight in tea.
Mary Berry’s recipe has a similar process, though she refers to it as Earl Grey tea bread. Made with just seven ingredients, the delicious bake is simple and rewarding to make.
Sharing the recipe from her BBC series, Mary Berry’s Country House Secrets, the baking extraordinaire described it as “the perfect tea loaf”.
Complete with “plumped” fruit soaked overnight in the tea, making the loaf is as simple as “a quick stir-together job” using the remaining ingredients.
Method
The cake itself is quick to make but the whole process will take one to two hours to allow soaking time.
To soak the fruit, first, boil 300ml of water in the kettle and brew with one or two Earl Grey tea bags until strong.
Place the currants and sultanas in a bowl and pour over the hot tea then stir, cover and leave to soak overnight (or for one hour) to allow the liquid to absorb.
When the fruit is plump, preheat the oven to 150C/130C Fan/ Gas 3.5 and grease a 900g loaf tin with non-stick baking paper.
Take a large mixing bowl and combine the flour, sugar and egg then add the soaked fruit.
Mary noted that it’s fine if there’s some excess liquid in the fruit mixture, just add it to the rest of the ingredients and mix thoroughly to combine.
Now spoon the prepared mixture into the lined tin and level the top. Place in the oven for one hour and 45 minutes, or until the cake is “risen and just firm to the touch”, said Mary.
It’s best to check on the cake after one hour and 15 minutes to see how it’s doing. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes when cooked.
After 10 minutes, carefully turn the cake out and remove the paper. To serve, cut the cake into fairly thick slices and spread with butter to serve.
