Free From Earl Grey Fruit Loaf

Name: Free From Earl Grey Fruit Loaf
Ingredients: 2 earl grey tea bags; 200 ml boiling water; 300 g mixed sultanas, raisins, prunes, dates, apricots; 200 g Freee Plain White Flour; 2 tsp Freee Baking Powder; 100 g soft brown sugar; 1 egg (or mix 1tbsp Freee Chickpea Flour + 2tbsp water); 4 tbsp oil; 0.5 orange rind and juice

Delicious fruit loaf infused with Earl Grey to combine delicate flavours of citrusy bergamot notes with the tea’s bitter, woody flavour. Ideal served sliced, spread lightly with butter and accompanied by a lovely cup of tea.

2 Reviews / Write a review

Free from Gluten, Soya, Wheat, Dairy, Nuts

Vegetarian

Ingredients

2 earl grey tea bags
200ml boiling water
300g mixed sultanas, raisins, prunes, dates, apricots
200g Freee Plain White Flour
2 tsp Freee Baking Powder
100g soft brown sugar
1 egg (or mix 1tbsp Freee Chickpea Flour + 2tbsp water)
4 tbsp oil
0.5 orange rind and juice

Put the tea bags into a jug, add the boiling water and leave to stand for 10 minutes.
Line a 1kg/2lb loaf tin bread tin with parchment and pre-heat the oven.
Weigh the dried fruits into another bowl. If using prunes, dates or apricots cut these into quarters. Pour the tea into the bowl and leave until completely cold.
Sieve the flour and baking powder into another bowl, add the sugar and mix together.
Add the egg (or chickpea flour + water), oil, grated orange rind and juice and beat well.
Discard the tea bags and stir the soaked fruit and liquid into the bowl.
Tip the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the top.
Bake for 70-75 minutes.
Gently turn out the cake onto a wire rack and leave to cool.

Equipment

1kg/2lb bread tin

Temperature

180°C, Fan 160°C, 350°F, Gas 4

Cooking time

70-75 minutes

I did everything as written in the recipe, except for, I covered the cake with foil for the first 25 minutes of baking. It came out delicious and it has enough moisture to be eaten without butter.

By Mrs ElÃ„Â«na JakubaÃ…ï¿½eca

27 May 2016

This teacake is robust yet moist and does not need to be eaten with butter, though I'm sure it would be fine with it. It is a great way of using up any leftover dried fruit in the larder. I happened to have prunes, raisins and cranberries. I have made some substitutions: white spelt flour for gluten-free flour and molasses sugar + maple syrup for soft brown sugar. I noticed that the overall mixture seemed quite runny after adding the oil. (I chose walnut oil.) However, the final cake was quite strong,so don't be concerned if yours also seems runny. I left the cake in the oven for 42 minutes, which was probably a touch too long since the top was slightly dark. Had I noticed earlier, I might have covered it in foil for the last 5-10 minutes. Therefore, I suggest that you check your loaf a little earlier just in case you have the same issue! Top Tip: make sure that your earl grey tea bags are as fresh as possible and allow them a little time with the boiling water on their own before adding the fruit for a stronger flavour. (Mine wasn't terribly strong.) You could also add a cardamom pod to the tea at the beginning for additional flavour - so long as you remember to take it out before baking! Enjoy, bakers!

By Mrs Charlotte Burn

27 Feb 2016