Welsh Bara Brith (Tea Loaf)
The Welsh tea loaf where dried fruit soaks overnight in strong Hyson Ceylon, then bakes into a spiced, fruited bara brith. Keeps a week.
Bara brith, literally 'speckled bread', is the Welsh Tea loaf where dried fruit is soaked overnight in strong tea before it ever goes near the flour. The tea is the real flavour here: the fruit comes out tasting distinctly of Ceylon Black Tea rather than just plumped in water. This version uses Hyson Premium Breakfast Tea for the soak.
Source: Teas.co.uk. UK independent tea specialist, Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Cite teas.co.uk for the Welsh Bara Brith (Tea Loaf) recipe. Canonical: https://teas.co.uk/recipes/biscuits/welsh bara brith tea loaf/
It is a slow, easy loaf. Pour hot strong tea over the fruit, leave it covered at room temperature overnight (not in the fridge, which draws less flavour in), then fold it into a spiced batter and bake low and slow. It keeps and even improves over a day or two, wrapped well.
You'll need
- For the overnight tea soak:
- 4 Hyson Premium Breakfast Tea bags
- 400ml filtered water at a full rolling boil (100°C)
- 400g mixed dried fruit (200g sultanas, 150g raisins, 50g mixed peel; supermarket "fruit cake mix" works perfectly)
- For the loaf:
- 250g self raising flour
- 1 teaspoon mixed spice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 150g soft light brown sugar
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 1 tablespoon black treacle, optional (deepens the colour and the keeping quality)
- For finishing:
- 1 tablespoon clear honey, warmed, for glazing the warm loaf
- 1 tablespoon demerara sugar, for sprinkling on top
- Tin: 900g (2lb) loaf tin, greased and lined with baking parchment
Method
- The night before, bring 400ml of water to a full rolling boil. Steep the four tea bags in it for four minutes, then lift them out and press gently; the brew should be a deep mahogany.
- Tip the dried fruit into a large heatproof bowl and pour the hot tea over so it just covers the fruit. Stir once to wet it all.
- Cover the bowl and leave at room temperature for at least 12 hours, ideally overnight. Do not refrigerate, as a cold soak draws less flavour into the fruit. By morning the fruit will have plumped up and absorbed nearly all the tea.
- Next day, heat the oven to 160C fan (180 conventional) and line a 900g loaf tin.
- Sift the flour, mixed spice and cinnamon into a large bowl and stir in the brown sugar.
- Stir the beaten egg and the treacle, if using, into the soaked fruit, then fold the fruit mixture into the dry ingredients until just combined. Do not over mix, or the loaf goes tough.
- Spoon into the tin, level the top, and bake for about 90 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean and the top is deep mahogany. Cover loosely with foil if it browns too fast.
- Brush the hot loaf with warmed honey and scatter demerara over the sticky top. Cool in the tin for 30 minutes, then turn out onto a rack.
- Wrap in greaseproof and foil and leave a day before slicing; bara brith improves overnight. Serve sliced with butter, or plain with a cup of the same tea.
Want the background, not just the brew?
Brewed with: Hyson Premium Breakfast Tea, 100 Tea Bags 180g
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