Earl grey tea fruit loaf by Mary Berry
I adore fruitcake in any permutation so when I stumbled on this recipe I knew I needed to give it a bash. You stir everything together easily by hand and if you like butter on your fruit bread, this is the perfect vessel in which to enjoy it.
The recipe is also a little mystery because the one I made was slightly adapted from one I saw on the Delicious magazine website and was by Paul Hollywood. It somehow mysteriously disappeared from the link I saved and after a number of searches, it’s gone. I then found this version by Mary Berry and it’s more or less the same recipe I made.
His recipe had used black tea and less of it, and I recall straining off the liquid, but I liked Early Grey tea which gives it that nice bergamot citrus flavour.
I used a mix of whatever dried fruit I had lying around. There were raisins, currents and sultanas, even perhaps a few cranberries. I don’t think it matters too much. It’s delicious served with loads of butter and of course a cup of tea.
Earl Grey Tea fruit loaf
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Ingredients
- 350 g raisins currents & sultanas
- 300 ml strongly brewed hot Earl Grey tea
- 275 g self-raising flour
- 225 g light or dark muscovado sugar or use any brown sugar
- 1 large free-range egg beaten
Instructions
- Place all the fruit in a bowl and cover it with hot tea. Leave to soak overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 150C/130C Fan and line a 900g/2lb loaf tin with non-stick baking paper.
- Add the flour, sugar and egg to the bowl of soaked fruit (if there is a little excess liquid this is fine) and mix thoroughly.
- Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth out the top.
- Bake for 1¾ hours, or until the cake is risen and is just firm to the touch, but check it after 1¼ hours to see how it is doing. Loosely cover with a piece of tin foil from about halfway through to prevent over-browning if necessary. Leave to cool in the tin for about 10 minutes.
- Turn out the loaf and remove the paper.
- Serve thick slices with a generous spread of butter.
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A delicious and healthy dessert to taste.
Beautiful loaf, this would be so lovely with afternoon tea!
This tea loaf is absolutely amazing and so easy. I cannot keep up with the demand for it among my friends and family!
Im so glad you enjoyed the recipe Emma
Hi. Can this loaf be made with a much-reduced amount of sugar and, if so, by how much? (My partner is diabetic) Many thanks!
Hello, I’m afraid I haven’t tested it with reduced sugar. Sugar plays an important role in baking. It helps the texture and gives the product a shelf life. Perhaps look at replacing the sugar with good baking substitutes such as Erythritol & stevia sugar alternative blends.
How long will this loaf keep good after baking please?
It will keep for at least a week ina. sealed container. It can also freeze if you need to store for longer.