Monday 1 March 2010

Fruit Tea Loaf

What could be better than a thick slice of buttered fruit tea loaf with your cup of tea? This traditional teatime favourite is really easy to make, moist and full of flavour. I’ve made this recipe countless times and it will always remain a firm favourite in our home, especially with my hubby!


Fruit Tea Loaf

Makes approx. 10 slices
Ingredients
1 x 250ml cup tea
375g mixed dried fruit
125g dark brown sugar
250g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
pinch of ground cloves
1 egg

Make the cup of black tea (just using a tea bag), and pour it into a bowl with the dried fruits and sugar; stir well, then leave to macerate overnight.

Preheat the oven to 170oC/fan oven 150oC/ gas 3. Line a 900g loaf tin with a paper liner or butter the tin and line the bottom with baking parchment.

Beat the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and cloves into the tea-soaked fruit, and then beat in the egg. Spoon and scrape into the lined loaf tin, and bake for 1 hour - or until cooked - before letting the cake cool it its tin on a rack.


Recipe from Feast by Nigella Lawson

21 comments:

Snooky doodle said...

oh this loaf looks so good! I m imagining biting a slice. oh heaven!!
I ll try it tomorrow. Have some dried fruit i need to use.

Simplyfood said...

Looks delicious.Bread looks perfect.

Do drop by simply.food.Its Very different style to your recipes.

Beth (jamandcream) said...

I might try this for hubby's cricket tea this year - a tea loaf always goes down well!!

Caroline said...

Looks great Maria, I love a good fruit tea loaf.

Petit Filoux said...

I love fruit tea cake! Thanks for reminding me!!

Choclette said...

Oh this does look good - haven't made tea loaf for years. I could just do with a slice of this now liberally spread with butter of course.

Chele said...

I'm with you! A nice slice of tea loaf and a nice cuppa at the end of the day puts the world to rights ;0)

Lucie said...

Tea loaf is a regular favourite in my house. This looks lovely. hope the WW is going well for you. Lucie x

Sarah said...

I'm new to commenting on your blog although I check it almost daily to see what wonderful creations you have made.

I've just made your tea loaf for the first time and just wondered whether you recommend checking with a skewer to see if it's cooked? Mine seemed to take 15 mins longer as certain parts were still wet when I tested. I'm fairly new to baking so want to make sure that I'm doing things correctly. It also cracked a bit on the top.

Sorry for all the questions.

Sarah xx :0)

Maria♥ said...

Hi Sarah

Lovely to hear from you and it's nice to know you visit my blog.

There is no harm in testing with a skewer if your not sure but cooking times do vary depending on your oven. As for the cracked top, I think that is pretty normal and mine has a slight crack too.

Maria
x

Sarah said...

Hi Maria,

It was gorgeous! My husband couldn't wait until it had completely cooled before having a piece with his tea so had it slightly warm. I will definitely be making this again!

Thanks for the tip about the ovens. I tend to check my bakes with the skewer to see if it comes out clean as an indicator as my oven is older than me!

Sarah xx :0)

Anonymous said...

Mine's in the oven and smells fab!

Estelle said...

Love this Fruit Tea Loaf. What do you think about adding some walnuts? I don't know why but each time I see the recipe I think, Walnuts.

Maria♥ said...

Hi Estelle

I don't see why you couldn't add walnuts :) It would definitely work!

Maria
x

Roy said...

My mum used to make this fruit loaf and now I'm having a go for the first time. I'm looking forward to eating it.

As a matter of interest, can coffee be used instead of tea?

Sarah Mason said...

Just taken mine out of the oven, smells and looks gorgeous. !!

Anonymous said...

i have just made this fab fruit loaf, i couldn't wait until it cooled, i sliced a good sized piece and yummy! enjoy

Melinda said...

Hi there. You didnt mention when to add the surgar so i added it in with the eggs. The mixture was incredibly dry so I added in a couple of tbsp of milk to ensure that the flour was incorporated. Its in the oven now so fingers crosed

WaYa said...

Hi, your recipe looks great and I'm definitely going to try baking this tomorrow! By the way, how long will this loaf keep? Judging from the ingredients I feel it's going to keep for quite a long time...do you have any idea just how long?

Maria♥ said...

Waya, it will last at least 5 days. Enjoy!

WaYa said...

Thank you Maria, I baked it today, and it was wonderful!!I'm going to give half of it to my friend...can't wait to have her taste it!