Gingery Fruit Tea Loaf

Gingery Fruit Tea Loaf
Inspired by Nigella Lawson’s Feast

Prep time: 10 minutes
Macerating time: overnight
Final prep time: 10 - 15 minutes
Baking time: 1 hour
Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients:
1 cup Earl Grey Tea (brewed)
12 oz/375 g dried fruit (I used dried cherries and chopped dried apricots)
½ cup brown sugar, firmly packed
250 g (I used 1 ½ cups) all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
Pinch of cloves
1 egg, slightly beaten
½ cup crystallized ginger, finely chopped

Directions:
1. Brew 1 cup of Earl Grey tea (Nigella used plain black tea but the perfume of the bergomat was awesome). Pour it over a medium sized bowl that contains the dried fruit and sugar. Stir well, cover and leave to macerate overnight on the counter. The fruit will really swell as it absorbs all the tea so make sure your bowl is large enough.

2. Preheat the oven to 325°F/170°C.

3. Prepare the pan: - Line the bottom of a loaf tin with parchment paper and butter the sides.

4. In a small bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cloves and ginger. Pour it into the tea soaked fruit and stir. Add the beaten egg. This is a very very thick batter – I kept reading the recipe over and over because I thought I was missing some liquid, but don’t worry. Just keep going until all the flour is absorbed. The dough reminded me more of the biscotti dough I make or a giant cookie. Pour the batter into the loaf pan.

5. Bake for 1 hour or so and then let it cool in the pan on a rack.

To serve, just slice and eat. It’s great as a mid morning snack and even better with ice cream for dessert.

Related links: Food and Drink recipes SHF