Theme of the day recipe!- English Tea Cake!

This is a simple Tea Loaf- great alongside tea plain or served with butter...or for breakfast with bitter marmalade ,even sweet jam can be a great winter alternative to toast! Infact I made this yesterday, but at the time of this photo this morning- over 2 thirds had mysteriously disappeared!

I like my tea cake deliciously dark and not too sweet! I normally put a few tablespoons of dark muscavado sugar (has a strong molasses flavour) into the mix. To make this loaf even more festive! A Christmas tea blend can be used to soak the fruit, and dried cranberries can be added alongside the nuts.
 

Ingredients

1 plain tea bag

300g Soft dried fruits (I use a mixture of dates and sultanas)

80g light brown sugar

2 medium eggs, beaten

225g plain flour

Handful of pecans, walnuts and pistachios

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

 1.Pour 300ml boiling water into a measuring jug with the tea bag and leave to infuse for 4-5 minutes, add the fruit and leave to soak overnight.

2. Preheat the oven to 180C/356F.Spread the bottom of a rectangle cake/loaf tin with butter and place a paper casing inside (easier to remove the finished loaf this way) Stir sugar and the 2 beaten eggs into the fruit mixture (no need to drain any water as the fruit will have soaked most of up). Sift in the flour, baking powder and cinnamon and stir the mixture carefully.

3. Pour the mixture into the tin and pop in the oven for up to 70 mins, (my oven takes 1 hour), the secret is to cook the whole thing without burning the top. You can place a aluminum foil covering over the top of the tin, maybe half way through cooking to try to prevent extra charring. While the mixing of this recipe is easy, this is one you may need to watch if unsure about your oven.

4. Cool the ready loaf in the tin for 10 mins before transferring it onto a metal cooling rack. Serve while warm or when cooled!

Happy Baking everyone! SP x