Irish Tea Brack

Irish Tea Brack

Just like a fruit cake, same same but different.

The finished article.....

This is a lovely cake to serve at morning or afternoon tea. It’s not an overly sweet cake and we have kept it for a week without refrigeration even in the tropics. We like the simplicity, and no electric beaters are required.

Prep time is minimal (10 minutes) other than the overnight soak for the fruit

1 Cup cold black tea

375 g mixed dry fruit

125 g mixed peel

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 egg

2 cups self-raising flour

Honey for brushing on finished cake

Pour tea in a large bowl, add mixed fruit finely chopped mixed peel and the brown sugar. Cover and leave overnight.

Grease and flour a 20 x 8 cm loaf tin. Lightly beat the egg and add to the fruit mixture. Add the sifted flour all at once and mix well until combined. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake in a moderately slow oven for 1.5 hours, (175 deg C) hopefully it will turn a golden brown on the top. The loaf is cooked when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool slightly in the tin then turn out on to a wire rack. To give the cake a fine glaze, while still warm after being removed from the tin brush the top with honey.

Serve sliced with butter.

To help shield the bottom of the cake from the heat of the gas burner on our marine stove we place an old tray on the shelf below to defuse the heat. 

We use the standard Australian metric cup. 1 cup = 250 ml

Variations: reduce the amount of mixed fruit and substitute dates. Golden syrup can be used instead of honey as a glaze and adds another flavour.