Monday, May 05, 2014

Time to make a luscious tea loaf

The tea loaf is quintessentially British or to be more specific, Yorkshire in origin. No doubt some of you will be screaming "that's not true" at the screen as you read this, but it is, I should know being a Yorkshire man...


There is nothing more luscious, in my opinion, than a slice of tea loaf spread thick with butter served in the shade of a sunny terrace with a cup of strong tea or lemon verbena infusion. Luscious because it has scent is to die for with the aroma of cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg permeating the air as you raise a slice to your mouth and take a bite of the moist, fruit-laden loaf.


It is quite difficult to get dried fruit here in Spain and when you come across it, more often than not it is in small 100gm bags. I usually stock up with dried fruit in the UK and periodically use it to make this lovely afternoon tea treat.


The recipe we use has been adapted to suit our taste and with the reduced sugar, additional spices and earl-grey tea, it has proved very popular with our neighbours and friends who happen to to be around when tea loaf is on offer.

Tea Loaf

These quantities will make three loaves but they freeze well so you don't have to eat them all at once...

225g raisins
225g sultanas
225g currants
50g mixed peel
900ml of tepid Earl Grey tea
250g brown sugar
750g self-raising flour
3 eggs
3 tsp cinnamon
3 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ginger

Soak the fruit overnight in in the tea. Next day add the flour, sugar, beaten egg and spices, mix well. Spoon into greased or lined loaf tins and transfer to a pre-heated oven 175c /Gas 3 for 60-75 minutes until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Cool and serve with butter and jam to taste.



A true Yorkshire treat made with the finest Yorkshire ingredients... ;-)

Go on spoil yourself...




8 comments:

  1. Interesting that dried fruit is hard to source in Spain too. Here in Portugal we can only generally find small bags and it's very expensive compared to the UK. Isn't it strange as grapes are so common?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It baffles me Andrea amongst other things ;-)

      Delete
  2. My mouth is truly watering.....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Luis has jam on his as well Sally but I'm a just butter sort of tea-loaf eater.

      Delete
  3. I must make tea Loaf, it is years since I did. Like yourself we used to stock up on dried fruit whenever anyone was returning to the UK or we were having people visit us.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anne, I re-discovered it after many years when considering low-fat alternatives to cake - pity about the butter ;-) It also tastes good without....

      Delete
  4. Anonymous1:04 pm

    mhh a bit like Brack, looks better though with a spread of Kerrygold
    Josey

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'll look that one up Josey - Brack.

    ReplyDelete

Click link to read more.