Irish Soda Bread (Gluten Free & Standard) Recipe

Around 18 months ago I decided, for medical reasons, to change to a gluten free diet.  However, I was unprepared for the expense and the total lack of quality and taste in the ready made products.

Naturally, being a cooking from scratch addict, I have been making my own gluten free food, but had been struggling with finding or creating a really nice gluten free Irish soda bread recipe, that doesn't fall apart when you look at it.

But miracles do happen, and yesterday I made a delicious Irish soda cake/bread, which stayed in one piece when I cut it !  It even looks real !

Gluten Free Irish Soda Bread - fresh from the oven

Irish Soda Bread Recipe

includes instructions for both gluten free and normal options

Ingredients

(I made this bread using American 'cups', which do make for a quick and easy measuring method !  This was because I used 3 recipes from various places, to base my recipe on, all of which were in US cups)

2 cups     Doves Farm gluten free plain flour  (or ordinary plain flour if you are                     not gluten free)
3 tblsp    Butter
1 cup       Buttermilk
2 tblsp    Buttermilk - extra  (exchange this for 1 med free range egg for a richer                     loaf)
1/4 cup   Caster sugar
1/4 cup   Xanthan gum - gluten free  (omit if you aren't using gluten free flour)
1/4 tsp    Sea salt
1 tsp         Baking powder - gluten free  (normal if you aren't gluten free)
1 1/2 tsp  Baking soda

Method

1.    Pre-heat the oven to 200C or 400F.

2.   Flour the base of a cookie sheet, or similar flat baking sheet or tray.

3.   Put the flour (gluten free or otherwise) in to a mixing bowl, then add the xanthan gum, salt, baking powder and baking soda.  Stir it to mix all these dry ingredients evenly.

4.   Using an electric mixer with the cake beaters (not the bread/dough hooks), mix the butter and sugar together, until it is light and fluffy (probably at least a couple of mins).  This can also be done by hand in a mixing bowl.

5.   Gradually add the flour mixture, a bit at a time, whilst adding small amounts of buttermilk at the same time. Mix well in between the adding of the mix.  Use all the flour mix and all the buttermilk, including the extra 2 tablespoons.
If you would like an extra rich Irish soda bread / cake, then exchange the 2 extra tablespoons of buttermilk for a medium free range beaten egg.  Add it in to the mixture the same way as the buttermilk, with the flour mix.

6.   Sprinkle a small amount of extra flour onto a clean work surface.

7.   Lift the bread mixture carefully from the bowl, trying to keep it in one lump or 'ball'.  Place in onto the floured work surface.

8.   Knead the bread just a few times, maybe 5 or 6, certainly no more.  Do this very gently.

9.   Shape the bread dough in to a circle shape, then pat it down gently to around 1.5 inches high (that's about 4cm).

10.  Using a floured knife, cut a cross into the top of the bread, going about half an inch deep.  This allows it to 'open up' and cook in the centre evenly.  And it looks cute !

11.  Place the baking sheet with the uncooked loaf into the middle of the pre heated oven.  

12.  Cook at 200C (400F) for 6 or 7 mins and then reduce the oven temperature to 175C (350F) for a further 25 minutes, or until it sounds hollow when tapped.

13.  Allow to cool before slicing, otherwise the slices will crumble and break.  Once cool, my loaf when sliced didn't crumble or break at all, which is a miracle for gluten free bread of any kind !

14.  The loaf I made is pictured above.  It kept really well for about 2 days, at which point I had eaten it all.


And if you want to try out some other Irish traditional recipes, 'The Best of Irish Breads and Baking' has a lovely collection.  The author, Georgina Campbell, is known here for great recipes.
Click here to see pages from 'The Best of Irish Breads and Baking: Traditional, Contemporary and Festive' by Georgina Campbell

Soda Bread Storage

As a quick note to add to my previous post - I mostly use the unbleached cotton cloth shopping bags you can buy from many supermarkets (cheapest are in Lidl and Aldi) to cool and store all my soda bread in.

They are perfect in shape etc and easy to wash.

Irish Fruit Soda Cake (Bread)

I have recently been entering a few agricultural shows with my cooking, for fun. Although when it came down to it, it was a lot of hard work to get perfect items ready for a certain time ! Bread, and most cakes, are at their best the same day that they are cooked, which means you end up trying to make perfect versions of everything within a few hours of the show and not sleeping !

I was lucky enough to win with at least 50% of my entries - so I recouped the cost of everything, as well as my petrol to the shows. It was a very interesting experience to be on the receiving end, instead of the one organising everything! I learnt a lot.

Here is my recipe for Fruit Soda Cake - Irish of course, what other kind is there ?

Brown and white soda bread is in fact called white soda cake and brown soda cake in Ireland, not bread. Even though it is bread. This is the same for the Fruit Soda Cake, aka Fruit Soda Bread...

I have noticed that most 'Irish Soda Bread' recipes on the internet, aren't in fact that, they are recipes for Fruit Soda Cake (really a bread), which is a very different beast. Many Irish Americans (and people from other countries too with Irish ancestors) give lovely stories about how the recipe was passed down to them by their great great great great granny who left Ireland many years ago - in another world. They then reel of the ingredients for Fruit Soda Cake (bread), not the real day to day brown soda cake (bread). Their great (x3) granny wouldn't have had eggs for cakes (unless they had a smallholding and some land), let alone raisins. They were extremely poor and were lucky to even get salt.

Actual Irish Soda Bread contains simply wholewheat flour, bread soda (baking soda), real buttermilk and a bit of salt. And this is all it contains to this day. The only exception would be that some people now prefer white flour to the brown four.

Having said all that, todays recipe is for Irish Fruit Soda Cake (bread).

Irish Fruit Soda Cake
(Bread)

Ingredients
1lb white plain Flour
2.5 tablespoons Caster Sugar
4 tablespoons normal salted Butter
1 large egg (beaten)
1 & 3/4 cups of real Buttermilk
1 cup Raisins
1 teaspoon Baking or Bread Soda
1 teaspoon Salt

1.     Put the flour, salt, sugar and baking soda all together into a large bowl and mix them in together well with your fingers.

2.     Add in the raisins, having made sure that there are no stalks etc left attached to them. Stir them in well so that they are coated with the flour mixture.

4.     Beat the egg in a small bowl.

5.     Add the buttermilk to the beaten egg and mix it together well, until blended.

6.     Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture, then pour the buttermilk and egg into the middle.

7.     Using your fingers (and not a wooden spoon) in a claw like action, mix the buttermilk mix into the flour. With the claw shape with your fingers, use a circular motion from the sides of the bowl to the middle and back, continuous and circular around the bowl.
Do this until the ingredients are all well blended and the mixture is quite sticky, yet one lump.

8.     Clean your hands.

9.     Dust a good baking tray with flour.

10.    Lift the lump of dough onto the baking tray, making sure that it is a circular shape on the outside and raised a bit in the middle.

11.    With a serrated knife cut a 1/2 inch deep cut across the dough in the shape of a cross.
This allows the insides of the cake (bread) to cook at the same time as the outside.

12.    Bake in the middle of an oven, covered with tin foil, at 200C for 40 minutes.

I used a sponge tin for this one,

as all my baking trays had scones on them at the time !

13.    When cooked the bottom will sound hollow, just like when you cook yeast bread.

14.    Let the fruit soda cake/bread cool on the tray for 15 minutes. Then take it off and wrap it in a clean tea towel or a cotton towel to cool completely.

Eat this while it is very fresh, with a good butter and maybe some blackcurrant jam !

I store all my soda bread in cloth, rather than in a tin etc.

Victoria Sandwich aka Victoria Sponge

6 ozs Butter (nice and soft at room temp)
6 ozs Castor Sugar
6 ozs Self Raising Flour
3 medium Eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure Vanilla Extract
Good jam for the filling - raspberry or blackcurrant is great, strawberry will work too
Icing Sugar to sprinkle


Make sure that the oven is at 180C (350f or gas 4) before starting as the sponge needs to be baked as soon as prepared.

Prepare 2 sandwich baking tins (round and not too high sided). Grease them with butter and then ensure that the insides are all covered with flour.


1. Cream together the soft butter and the castor sugar, until it has become paler and light and fluffy.


2. Bit by bit beat in the eggs and the vanilla extract. With each egg add a small bit of the weighed out flour (sifted) to help the egg blend and not curdle.


3. Next sift the remaining flour into the bowl. So as not to knock out the air you added to the mixture when beating the eggs in, make sure that you gently fold the flour in, slowly.


4. Spoon the mixture into the 2 sponge tins, equally. Smooth over the tops.


5. Place in the centre of the oven.


6. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the cake is a golden brown colour and it springs back gently when you touch it with your finger.


7. Turn the cakes out onto a cooling rack.


8. When stone cold, spread the required jam onto one of the cakes, and then place the other on top of it, like a sandwich.


9. Sprinkle the icing sugar on the top of the sandwich, but putting a teaspoonful into a sieve and shaking it over the sponge.


Serve with afternoon tea (earl grey or green) and cucumber sandwiches (cut into neat triangles naturally, and with the crusts removed).

Yummy Eggnog Nibble Squares (Advocaat Nibbles for the adventurous)

Eggnog, or rather its alcoholic version Advocaat, is one of my favourite drinks. Advocaat is just heaven in a glass as far as I am concerned !

And it has to be Warninks Advocaat - no other comes close.

MMmmmMMmmmm

Shame I can't drink alcohol now ! Well not often...

Being English, I was naturally raised with eggnog and advocaat. Eggnog is a very old English medieval traditional drink which has now spread around much of the world. It was an upper class drink which often also had brandy or rum added (hence the later development of advocaat). The lower classes could not have even afforded the milk, let alone the rest of the ingredients.

It crossed the Atlantic in the 18th century and is now part of American traditions also.

Many years ago a friend (knowing how much I have a fetish for cookery books) sent me a very special book called Cookies For Christmas. It is a huge book devoted entirely to festive biscuits, tiny cakes and cookies ! A very fun book.

I got the idea for this recipe in that book and have used it since. I changed a couple of the ingredients and with just a couple of tweeks and changes I had something delicious to suit my tastes...

Eggnog or Advocaat Nibble Squares

2 cups Castor Sugar
2 Eggs
2 cups Plain Flour
1/2 cup ground Almonds
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
2/3 cup Unsalted Butter
1 teaspoon pure Vanilla Extract
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground Nutmeg

1. Put the butter and sugar into a saucepan and melt them together, on a medium heat only. Stir whilst it is melting.

2. Once it is melted and combined - stir for 2 more minutes.

3. Cool the saucepan and its contents for 10 minutes off of the stove top.

4. After the 10 minutes, use a wooden spoon to stir in the eggs, one at a time.

5. Then stir in the vanilla extract.

6. Next stir in the flour, the baking powder and then nutmeg, until it is all well mixed in.

7. Now stir in the ground almonds.

8. Spoon the mixture into a greased 13" x 9" pan, which is 2" deep (" is inches).

9. Bake in a preheated oven at 180C (350F or gas 4) for 25 or 30 minutes (until the edges of the cake/slices start to pull away from the edge of the pan).

10. Cool in the pan on a wire rack.

This should make roughly 36 bars or squares.

Christmas Cake

This recipe makes a cake about 8 inches in diameter.

You will need additional brandy for dripping in the cake between now and Xmas !

It's important that you make the cake now - at least a month before it's required, as the flavours need to mature and blend.... mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Christmas Cake Recipe

2 lbs mixed Dried Fruit (sultanas, raisins, currants etc)
2 ozs sliced Almonds
2 ozs finely chopped Walnuts
4 ozs Glacé Cherries (candied) (cut in halves)
4 ozs chopped Mixed Peel (candied)
2 teaspoons mixed spice
8 ozs Plain Flour (all purpose)
8 ozs Butter (soft)
8 ozs soft dark brown Sugar
Pinch of Salt
1 tablespoon Black Treacle (molasses)
Rind of 1 Orange (finely grated)
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
4 large Eggs
1/4 pint of Brandy

1. Put the sifted flour and mixed spice in a mixing bowl.

2. In another bowl put the dried fruit, almond slices, chopped walnuts, cherry halves, and mixed peel. Mix it all up. Add 1 tablespoon of the flour from the first bowl and mix it in well to cover all the fruit etc.

3. In a third large bowl cream the butter and soft brown sugar until it is all light and fluffy.

4. Add the black treacle, orange rind and vanilla extract to the 3rd bowl with the butter and sugar. Mix it all well, in fact you can beat it.

5. Still using the 3rd bowl, add the eggs one at a time, each time adding a little of the flour from the 1st bowl to stop it curdling. Beat it well after each egg is added.

6. Add the fruit and remaining flour gently to the 3rd bowl, folding it in, adding 3 tablespoons of the brandy at the same time.

7. Mix it all well.

8. Use an 8 inch diameter round tin, or a 7 inch square tin. Use a loosed based baking tin if at all possible. Line it with 3 layers of greaseproof paper (sides and bottom) and leave 2 inches of paper above the tin all round.

9. VERY IMPORTANT - Around the outside of the tin tie a thick band of folded newspaper or brown paper. Tie this securely with string.

10. Put the cake mixture into the prepared tin. Smooth the surface down well, nice and flat, and then make a bit of a slight hollow in the middle.

The cake is now ready for baking. You can leave it like this overnight if you don't have time to bake it the same day.

11. Heat the oven to 160c (325f or Gas 3).

12. Place the cake in the centre of the oven and cook for about 1.5 hours, or until it is just starting to brown.

13. Reduce the heat to 150c (300f or Gas 2) and cook for another 3 hours or until cooked.

14. Protect the top of the cake from burning or over browning by covering it with tin foil or brown paper when appropriate (not before).

15. When it is cooked, the top will feel springy and when you poke a thin skewer all the way in it will come out clean.

16. Leave the cake until totally cold before removing all the papers and turning out of the tin.

17. Turn the cake upside down. Using a skewer, poke holes in the bottom of the cake. Pour the remaining brandy into the holes and let it soak in.

18. When it is soaked in, wrap the cake in greaseproof paper and then a layer of tin foil. Store in an airtight container.

19. Each week, unwrap it, make a few more hole in the top and bottom (alternate weeks) and pour in more brandy.

20. If you wish to almond paste and ice the cake, you don't do this until 2 weeks before Christmas.

Almond paste and icing will be in a later post.

Very Simple Walnut Fairy Cakes

At the end of last week I was making some simple fairy sponge cakes for a friend who liked them made with sultanas in them, but I had run out of sultanas.

I looked around my kitchen shelves for something else I could put in them, to add interest and for it not to be just plain sponge...

The best I could find that the friend also liked was walnuts !

So - here is my walnut fairy cake recipe, which I'm including here as they turned out to be really yummy and nutty. Nothing fancy, no icing etc, just yummy cake in small portions.

Simple Walnut Fairy Sponge Cakes

4 ozs Butter
4 ozs Self Raising Flour
4 ozs Castor Sugar
2 Eggs
3 ozs Walnuts (very finely chopped)
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 teaspoon heaped of Baking Powder

1. Put the butter and the sugar into a bowl and beat them together until the mix is creamy, soft and almost fluffy.

2. Beat the 2 eggs well in a mug or a cup.

3. Add the eggs to the mix, just a little at a time with a tablespoon of the flour each time. Beat them into the mixture. You add the flour to ensure that the eggs and the mix don't curdle.

4. Add the remaining flour, the baking powder, the vanilla extract and the chopped walnuts and fold them gently into the mixture.

5. Place small paper cake cases into the holes in a muffin tin, or if you only have baking trays, spread them out on the tray.

6. Put a large teaspoon of the mixture into each paper cake case.

7. Cook in a pre heated oven at 190C for just 10 to 15 minutes. Don't let them get too brown, so you may need to watch them.

You can cool them on wires racks... if you can wait that long !

Banana & Apricot Cake

This is especially for Irish to bake for her Bogman on a Sunday...

To make up for his deprivation over his dearly departed archaic PC parts, a little sugar and carbohydrate fix is in order. Hopefully Irish has all this in her kitchen !

Banana & Apricot Cake

3.5 ozs Butter (chilled and chopped in little pieces)
8 ozs Self Raising Flour
2 3/4 ozs Caster Sugar
2 ozs dried Apricots (chopped)
2 ozs Raisins
2 Bananas (roughly mashed)
2 tablespoons Honey
2 Eggs (beaten)

1. Rub the butter into the flour in a large bowl until it looks a bit like fine breadcrumbs.

2. Stir the sugar, chopped apricots, raisins, bananas, eggs and honey into the dry ingredients. Mix until it is nice and soft.

3. Spoon the mixture into a 2lb loaf tin, which has been greased with butter and is lined on the bottom with a piece of greaseproof paper.

4. Level off the top.

5. Bake in an oven heated to 160C / 325F / Gas Mark 3 for about 1 hour. A thin skewer should come out clean when poked into the middle of the cake.

6. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin. Then turn it out onto a wire rack to cool totally.

7. You can eat while still a bit warm, or otherwise sliced when cold. It will last a few days safely in an airtight container. IF you don't eat it all at once...

And Boogie - This is so simple that if she burns it you can make her dump all HER old and cherished computer toys...

Incredibly Yummy Rich Chocolate Nut Cake

Brace yourselves....

This is multi calorific

for serious chocoholics

and anyone who likes 'indulging'...

This recipe is adapted from one I found years ago in one of my cook books... and it was in cups. I have never bothered to convert it so I apologise. I have a lovely stainless steel set of cups - very useful and so easy to use.

Incredibly Yummy Chocolate Nut Cake

Cake
1/2 cup plain Flour
1/2 cup Cocoa
1 teaspoon ground Cinnamon
1 cup sliced Almonds
1 1/4 cups Brazil Nuts (chopped)
1 1/2 cups dessicated coconut
1/4 cup stem or glacé Ginger
1 1/2 cups currants
250g dark Chocolate (chopped)
1/4 cup Honey
1/2 cup Orange Marmalade
60g Butter

Icing
5.25 ozs (2/3 cup) dark Chocolate
2 ozs Butter

The Cake
1. Mix the nuts, the coconut, the ginger, the currants, the cinnamon, the cocoa and the flour in a big bowl.

2. In a saucepan gently heat (low setting) the chocolate, butter, honey and marmalade until melted and well blended together. Stir all the time.

3. Stir the melted choc mixture into the dry ingredients in the bowl.

4. Take an 8 inch round oven-proof flan tin, grease the sides and base and line it with greaseproof paper.

5. Press the cake mix into the base of the flan tin.

6. Bake in the oven for about 45 minutes, at roughly 140/150C. Keep an eye on it as I may need longer, or shorter. Either way cook it until its firm.

7. Leave to cool in the tin. When cool turn out onto a wire rack.

The Icing
8. Mix the chocolate and butter in a bowl. Stir well until it is very smooth.

9. When the cake is cool/cold, spread the icing all over the surface, top and sides. Put it in the fridge to set.

Eat this with thick cream if you are really brave...

You can freeze this for 2 months, and it will happily keep for a week until you need it when freshly made. Keep it covered and stored in the fridge (if not frozen).

Sugar-Free Fruit Cake

This is one delicious cake !

And moist - I hate dry cakes.

And good for you... no sugar and loads of dried fruit, honey and orange juice...

For an even less sugary version, try replacing the honey with a well mashed ripe banana.

Means you can eat more hmmm

Sugar-Free Fruit Cake

3 ozs dried Apricots (chopped)
3 ozs Dates (chopped)
2.5 ozs Glacé Cherries (candied) (halved)
3.5 ozs Raisins
12 oz plain Flour (all purpose)
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon ground Mixed Spice (allspice)
4.5 ozs Butter
4 fl oz Milk
2 Eggs (beaten)
Grated rind of 1 Orange
6 tablespoons Orange Juice
3 tablespoons runny Honey (or 1 mashed ripe banana)

1. Put the flour, baking powder and mixed spice in a bowl and mix.

2. Cut the butter into small pieces, add it to the bowl and rub it all in between your fingers. This eventually makes a kinda fine breadcrumb texture.

3. Next stir in the apricots, dates, cherries, raisins, milk, beaten eggs, grated orange rind and the orange juice.

4. Stir in the honey and mix it all together until it is soft and squishy.

5. Spoon the mixture into a lined 8 inch round baking tin. Level off the surface.

6. Cook in an oven at 180C / 350F / Gas Mark 4 (preheated of course). Bake for about 1 hour, until a thin skewer poked into the middle comes out clean.

7. Let the cake cool in the pan before removing it and turning it out.

Polenta Fruit Cake

This recipe is for the most amazing fruit cake. It has an incredible fresh taste to it, and is moist yet light.

I does not rise very high, but don't be tempted to change the ingredients because of this, as its just perfect as it is.

Polenta Fruit Cake

3.5 ozs softened Butter
3.5 ozs Castor Sugar (superfine)
1.75 ozs Self-raising Flour (sieved)
3.5 ozs Polenta (cornmeal)
2 Eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
8 ozs mixed Dried Fruit
1 oz Pinenuts (pine kernels)
Grated rind from 1 Lemon (use an organic lemon to avoid the chemical spray on wax they use to preserve non organic ones)
4 tablespoons Lemon Juice
2 tablespoons Milk

1. Prepare a 7 inch cake tin by greasing it well, and then lining the base with greaseproof paper.

2. In a bowl mix together the butter and sugar until it gets a bit paler and is nice and fluffy.

3. Mix in the eggs (beaten) a little bit at a time. Mix well in between each addition.

4. Next fold in the flour, baking powder and the polenta (cornmeal), until it is all well mixed in.

5. Finally mix in the dried fruit, the pinenuts, the grated lemon rind and the milk.

6. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and make the top level.

7. Cook at 180C, 350F or Gas Mark 4, for about 1 hour, or until a thin skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

8. Leave the cake to cool in the tin before you try and remove it.

You can use all sorts of dried fruit for this. Besides the normal sultanas, currants and raisins, try glace cherries, chopped dates, chopped dried apricots or even figs.

This freezes well... that is if it lasts that long !

Chocolate Courgette Cake Recipe (Zucchini to Some)

Well here it is - the day that most of Ireland spends doing fun stuff... and I'm feeling left out !

So, what is required is a little self love and a lot of pandering with lush goodies. I have tomatoes, runner beans and courgettes to spare, which somewhat limits my choice of to die for edibles. So I'm back to an old favourite, Chocolate Courgette Cake.

I know you are going to think YUK and mega YUK, but trust me, this is one moist, chocolatey and delicious cake. And apart from trying to avoid getting blood from your knuckles in the mix, its fun and easy to make...

Besides, with that sexy dark brown chocolate colour a bit of blood will never show...

Chocolate Courgette Cake
(or if you are in the US or Australia - Chocolate Zucchini Cake)

Ingredients:

120g Butter (softened)
125 ml Extra virgin olive oil
100g Castor sugar
200g Demerera sugar
3 Eggs, beaten
130 ml Milk
350g Organic wholemeal spelt flour
2 tsp Baking powder
4 tablespoons Cadbury's drinking chocolate
450 g Courgettes, peeled and grated finely
1 teaspoon organic Vanilla extract
(most of my ingredients are organic)

Instructions:

1. Line a 8" x 13" baking tray with baking (greaseproof) paper and set the oven to 190C or 350F.

2. Mix the butter, olive oil and both sugars together until light and fluffy.

3. Gradually add the eggs, one at a time and then the milk until mixed thoroughly.

4. Throw the dry ingredients in and fold them into the mixture.

5. Stir in the grated courgettes (peeled) and the vanilla extract and then spoon the mixture into the baking tin.

6. Bake for 35-45 minutes.

7. Cut into squares whilst still warm.

I would love to hear from you as to what you think of this recipe so please feel free to send a comment.

Also, if you aren't sure about the measurements or ingredient names ever, the same applies as I am always willing to help a fellow foodie. Alternatively my email is sheeaunmusic@gmail.com

My First Post ! Thoughts on Tea Brack

Well here I am... without a clue as to how all this works, making my very first blog post. I think that's what it's called...

I've been snacking on my Tea Brack today as I need sustenance after a weekend of stress and fun at the local agricultural show... This is a very traditional Irish bread/cake, which you eat sliced like bread and smothered in butter. There is also an English version called Tea Bread, which is very similar.

I have a habit of changing recipes around a bit to make them into exactly my fav food, so here is my version of Irish Tea Brack - which to me is heavenly.

Most Tea Brack recipes have Irish whiskey in them. This is totally unneccessary when you use demerera sugar, as demerera gives it that same taste.

Irish Tea Brack

Ingredients
1 lb Golden raisins (dried)
0.5 lbs Sultanas (dried)
0.5 lbs Currants (dried)
1 lb Demerera sugar
2 Cups of cold milkless strong black tea
1lb Plain flour
3 Eggs - beaten
3 teaspoons Baking powder
5 teaspoons Mixed spice

1. Soak the dried fruit for 3 days in the cold tea. You will need a large bowl for this. Make sure it's covered well to keep out keen and hungry insects. (Most recipes say to soak overnight - but if you want this to be amazing, stick to the 3 days).

2. Then add all the other ingredients and beat it to mix it well.

3. Coat the sides of 2 loaf tins with butter and then shake some plain flour around their insides. This stops the loaves from sticking. Use 2lb loaf tins.

4. Spoon the mixture into the tins, dividing it equally between the 2.

5. Bake for 1.5 hours at 160c, or gas mark 3.

6. When they are cooked and you take them out of the oven, immediately coat the tops with honey and then place them back inside the oven to dry. Remember to turn the oven off first !!

7. When they are dry, take them out and allow to totally cool before trying to remove the loaves from the tins.

Tea Brack is best kept for at least 3 days before eating (wrap it in tin foil). The taste improves in this time, as does the texture.

I hope you love this as much as I do... it is especially incredible with unsalted butter Mmmmmmm...