This is a wonderfully rich tea bread, that you and your family will go nuts over. As many of you know I’m a tea addict and aside from drinking it, I love to cook with it, particularly in cakes in cookies. I made a couple of loaves because it not only freezes well, but is also delicious if you toast it when it’s a little stale – toasted and slathered with lashings of butter!
It’s also the perfect time of year to get stock up your freezer with Holiday goodies for when your guests arrive.
Mum and I made a couple of loaves when she was visiting this week and everyone who came over to visit was offered a slice and wound up having three. Mom left back for England last night and to cheer myself up, I’m about to toast a slice and eat it with a cup of my favorite chai tea from Lupicia Teas.
Ingredients
- Pre-heat oven to 340 F.
- 2 black tea bags
- 1/3/4 cups boiling water
- 4 cups mixed fruit (raisins, sultanas, cranberries, un-sulphured apricots- chopped)
- 2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
- 1tsp baking powder
- A pinch salt
- 1 1/2 cups soft brown sugar
- 1tbsp melted butter
- 1 egg lightly beaten
Instructions
- Place dried fruit in a large bowl.
- Steep the tea bags in 1 3/4 cups of boiling water for ten minutes. Pour the steeped tea over the fruit and leave to soak for one hour.
- Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the fruit/tea mixture and combine well. Mix in the egg and butter, making sure everything is really well combined.
- Grease and line a loaf tin and spoon in the batter, smoothing it down.
- Place in the oven and bake for 1 and 1/4 hours. Test to see if a toothpick comes out clean – if not, put back for another 5-10 minutes.
- Allow to cool on a wire rack and serve when cool.
- It will keep for up to 2 weeks in a tin or airtight container. After about a week, I like to slice and toast it, slathered in butter
- Enjoy your rich tea bread!
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