Bara Brith

Introduction & method

Bara brith is a very traditional tea-flavoured fruit loaf from Wales. Originally, bara brith would be made with a yeasted dough, but this version uses self-raising flour as a raising agent. It's a very easy thing to make, and very tasty.

Prep

One thing you absolutely must do is soak the mixed fruit in tea overnight. Boil the water, add 2 teabags and the demerara sugar. Steep for 5 minutes. Remove the teabags and pour the tea over the fruit.

Make the Batter

Preheat your oven to 150°C (302°F) for a fan/convection oven, 170°C (338°F) for a conventional one, gas 3. Drain the fruit and mix together with the other ingredients (except the honey). Whether you can make 1 or 2 loaves with this amount of batter depends entirely on the size of your tins. Grease the insides of your loaf tins with butter, and fill to about three-quarters with batter.

Bake

Put the loaves in the oven and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. You might want to turn them round halfway through so they get evenly browned, and if they look like they're browning too quickly before the end, loosely cover them with foil. When the time is up, remove from the oven and test them for doneness with a skewer. Stick it in the centre of each loaf, and if it comes out dry, they're done. Spread slices generously with butter and serve with a cup of tea.