Bara Brith
Speckled bread — a Welsh tea loaf, deeply fruited, gently spiced, and made even better by an overnight soak of the fruit in strong black tea. Sliced thickly and buttered generously.
Ingredients
350 g mixed dried fruit (currants, sultanas, raisins)
300 ml hot strong black tea
150 g soft light brown sugar
1 large egg, beaten
300 g self-raising flour
1 tsp mixed spice
2 tbsp marmalade
Method
- 1
Soak the dried fruit in the hot tea with the sugar. Cover and leave overnight, or for at least 6 hours.
- 2
The next day, heat the oven to 160°C. Butter and line a 900 g loaf tin.
- 3
Stir the beaten egg and marmalade into the soaked fruit, then fold in the flour and mixed spice until just combined.
- 4
Spoon into the tin and level the top. Bake for 70–75 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean.
- 5
Cool in the tin for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a rack. Slice thickly and serve with salted butter and a strong pot of tea.
Cook's notes
The tea does not merely flavour the fruit — it plumps it up so the loaf stays moist for days. Wrapped in greaseproof and stored in a tin, it improves for a week.