Barmbrack – Irish tea fruit loaf

Ingredients

• 300 g raisins and sultanas
• 3 dl cooled strong black tea
• 250 g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 100 g brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• finely grated zest of 1 orange
• butter for greasing

Method

1. 1Soak dried fruit in tea for at least 4 hours or overnight. Retain tea.
2. 2Heat oven to 170°C and grease and line a 1.5-litre loaf tin.
3. 3Mix flour, baking powder, sugar and spices. Stir in egg, orange zest, fruit and all tea into an even batter.
4. 4Bake for 70–80 minutes until a skewer comes out without wet batter. Loosely cover with foil if top darkens. Cool before slicing.