Michelle Darmody: How to bake a rich and dense traditional Tea Brack

Pic: iStock

Tea Brack is a rich and dense fruit loaf. 

The fruit is soaked until plump and the liquid within the skins seeps out as the loaf bakes creating a moist and tasty cake.

A slice of tea brack brings back memories of my grandmother bringing me to the Mary Rose cafes in the Savoy or Queens Old Castle in Cork. My love of tea brack has endured since then. 

Perhaps my memories have skewed a little in the intervening years, but I remember the glint of polished brass and mahogany. 

I would perch on red velvet banquette seats watching waitresses twirl by with trays of silver tea pots and plates filled with jam and cream scones, prawn sandwiches or wedges of apple tart. 

For me, it was always the tea brack and my grandmother would make sure to spread some soft butter onto my slice before I tucked in.

Brack was made in cottage kitchens up and down Ireland, so it is a relatively nice recipe to make as it requires little equipment, scales, a wooden spoon, a loaf tin and an oven. 

The ingredients are soaked, mixed and then flattened into the tin to be baked.

Tea Brack

recipe by:Michelle Darmody

Please note: prep time below doesn't include overnight soaking.

Preparation Time

 20 mins

Cooking Time

 1 hours 20 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 40 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 150g sultanas

• 150g golden raisins

• 50g dried cherries, you can use sour cherries or glace ones for a sweeter result

• 100g chopped dates, any stones removed

• 300mls warm, very strong black tea

• 1 egg, lightly whisked

• 150g soft brown sugar

• 200g self-raising flour

• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

• 1 tsp ground nutmeg

• 1 tsp ground ginger

• 1 tbs brandy

• 1 tbs natural yogurt

• 30g mixed nuts, roughly chopped

• 1 tbs of honey

Method

1. For the nicest results it is best to soak the fruit overnight in the tea until it becomes soft and plump.

2. The next day preheat your oven to 180ºC/gas mark 4 and line a 2lb loaf tin with baking parchment.

3. Add the egg, sugar, flour, spices, brandy, yogurt and the nuts to the soaked fruit and mix with a wooden spoon.

4. Scoop into the prepared tin and flatten the mixture.

5. Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

6. While it is still warm brush the honey over the top. Allow it to cool in the tin.

Three delicious variations

Orange & hazelnut brack

To make a really nice version of this brack add the zest of two big oranges when mixing the ingredients together. 

You can also add 100mls of orange juice in place of the same amount of the tea. 

If I am making this version, I substitute the mixed nuts for chopped hazelnuts as these go very well with the orange.

Gluten-free brack

It is relatively easy to turn this into a gluten-free cake as the flour simply plays a supporting role, holding all of the ingredients together. 

Using 200g of gluten-free self-raising flour will not unduly affect the result of the cake. 

If you cannot access self-raising gluten-free flour sieve 1 tsp of baking powder into plain gluten-free flour.

Earl Grey brack
You can make an Earl Grey version of the brack. The Earl Grey tea adds a floral, citrus note to the loaf. 

If you are a big bergamot fan — the oil that gives Earl Grey its taste — you could add a ½ tsp of bergamot oil as well. 

Add this you stir the ingredients into the soaked fruit. This will enhance the Earl Grey notes in the loaf.

Bakers' secrets 

Brack has a long shelf life and in fact, it gets better with age. You can keep it for a day or two before cutting to allow all of the flavours to blend together. 

When the brack has cooled to room temperature you can wrap it in greaseproof paper and keep for two days before cutting.

There are very few rules when it comes to making a tea brack but soaking the fruit in black tea is one of them. 

Some recipes suggest a few hours but I think it is worth the wait, and I leave the fruit soak overnight. 

I find hot tea works better than cold and gives plumper results. 

If there is excess liquid when you are stirring in the other ingredients, don’t worry, it will get soaked up by the flour.

Brew the tea so that it's really strong. I use about 4 tea bags in the 300mls. 

Of course, being from Cork I recommend Barry's Tea, but you are welcome to use whichever breakfast-style tea that you wish.

As with a lot of cakes, avoid overmixing the batter to prevent a rubbery texture.

If the top of the brack has turned a deep golden brown, but a cake skewer is still not coming out clean, cover the loaf with tin foil and bake again for 5-minute increments before repeating the test with the skewer.

Tea brack freezes quite well, allow it to cool to room temperature and either slice it or freeze it whole. 

It can be stored in a freezer-safe container or freezer bag within the freezer for up to 3 months.

Y ou can use any combination of dried fruits that you like, such as cranberries, currants, apricots or figs. 

Just make sure all of the larger fruit is roughly chopped to the same size as a raisin or sultana, so the cake is easy to slice.