Low Fat Tea Bread

I thought that it was about time that I brought to you a cake recipe. Its been a while and I know that many years ago when I first started this blog that it was rather one sided and nearly every recipe was for a cake! I hope now that after all these years I have now evened things up a bit and there is something for everyone. Over the years the categories have grown and I hope that there is more balance.

But I do love cake! I do try very hard to resist it, but homemade cake is my weakness and that is why I do not bake as much now. If its in the house I will eat it. Yes I am weak, but hey, we all have our flaws. This Low Fat Tea Bread however is a life saver, yes it is full of calories, but it is low in fat, full of dried fruit goodness and if made with brown, organic or gluten free flour would be even healthier !

I love Luca coming home to the smell of fresh baking, I love nothing better than sharing a slice of cake with him over a cup of tea and a chat about our day, with this Low Fat Tea Bread I can indulge and not feel to guilty.

What is also great about this recipe is there are very few ingredients, it takes seconds to whip up (well as long as you have remembered to soak your fruit that is) and you can use up all those bags of dried fruit that don’t have enough in to use in a recipe, but too much to throw away. As long as you end up with a total of 350g of dried fruit it doesn’t really matter. I used up sultana’s, raisins and dried cranberries in mine and I think next time the addition of some nuts for added crunch would be just perfect. Also don’t worry about which tea you use, I only had Earl Grey, but builders tea, any dark tea, orange juice or even some booze you having lying around would work just as well. It is all about adding moisture to the cake as there is no fat added.

Also you could add crystallised ginger, zest of an orange or a lemon, add different spices and the recipe says to allow the cake to cool completely before serving, but served warm with butter and jam sounds just heavenly to me, no need to wait for it to cool ! Well not in this house 😉

This recipe will keep well for a few days due to the moist fruit, but if it does last long enough to become a little dry, just toast it. You could even have it for breakfast !

Buon appetito

175g /6oz Sultanas or raisins
175g /6oz currants
110g   4oz brown sugar ( I used soft brown muscavado)
300ml or 10 fl oz of really hot strong tea
275g/  10 oz self raising flour
A good grating of nutmeg
½tsp cinnamon 
½tsp sea salt 
one large beaten egg 

The night before you bake, soak your chosen fruit and sugar in the hot tea. I didn’t read the recipe properly as I was rushing and didn’t add the sugar, but the cake still turned out Ok!  If you do forget or want to make this cake in a rush just put the fruit and tea in a saucepan, bring it to the boil, then leave until it cools. 

Heat the oven to 150c/300f/gas mark 2.

Grease and line a 2lb loaf tin with baking parchment.

Sieve together the flour, spices and salt.

Add the fruit and the egg and combine well.

Pour into the prepared tin, its a very sticky mixture and does not pour as such, but just using a spatula level out in your pan.

Bake for around 1 hour and 15 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Min cooked in just under an hour, so just keep an eye on it towards the end as all oven vary.

Leave to cool in the tin for 10/15 minutes then turn out onto a cooling tray.

The recipe said that it’s ready to slice when completely cooled or better still, the day after baking. However I think served warm with butter dripping off of it would also be pretty damn good. This cake is perfect for those fruit cake lovers that fancy something a little lighter.