A tea loaf or tea bread is an English

bread Bread is a baked food product made from water, flour, and often yeast. It is a staple food across the world, particularly in Europe and the Middle East. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cu ...

, made with

dried fruit Dried fruit is fruit from which the majority of the original water content has been removed prior to cooking or being eaten on its own. Drying may occur either naturally, by sun, through the use of industrial dehydrators, or by freeze drying. ...

and traditionally served sliced and spread with

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of Churning (butter), churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 81% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread (food ...

. It is seen as a very traditional cake and the tea loaf is available in cafes and other establishments that serve traditional

afternoon tea Tea is an umbrella term for several different meals consisting of food accompanied by tea to drink. The English writer Isabella Beeton, whose books on home economics were widely read in the 19th century, describes meals of various kinds an ...

. It is particularly associated with

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

. In the making of tea loaves, the fruit (usually currants and sultanas) is soaked in initially hot

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of south-western China and nor ...

to plump it before mixing it into the batter. The fruit is left in the tea for several hours, or overnight, and so is mainly steeped in cold tea. The tea used to make the cake was traditionally black tea, but

Earl Grey Earl Grey is a title in the peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1806 for General Charles Grey, 1st Baron Grey. In 1801, he was given the title Baron Grey of Howick in the County of Northumberland, and in 1806 he was created Viscoun ...

or other teas can also be used. Eggs are beaten into the tea/fruit mixture to bind the ingredients together and then the flour, sugar and any ground spices (such as mixed spice or

cinnamon Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus ''Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, biscuits, b ...

alone) are added. Yeast used to be used as the

raising agent In cooking, a leavening agent () or raising agent, also called a leaven () or leavener, is any one of a number of substances used in doughs and batters that cause a foaming action (gas bubbles) that lightens and softens the mixture. An altern ...

but self-raising flour is specified in modern recipes. Although currants and sultanas are traditional fruits, others can also be used such as glace cherries, candied ginger, dried

apricot An apricot (, ) is a fruit, or the tree that bears the fruit, of several species in the genus ''Prunus''. Usually an apricot is from the species '' P. armeniaca'', but the fruits of the other species in ''Prunus'' sect. ''Armeniaca'' are also ...

s, peel or orange zest. A key feature of tea bread is the lack of fat in the recipe with the consequence of improved keeping qualities. Indeed, the flavour is often considered to improve with time. Similar breads in the British Isles include the Welsh bara brith and the Irish barmbrack.

References

Cakes English cuisine {{UK-cuisine-stub

See also

References