Bara Brith (Tea Bread or Fruit Loaf)
Bara Brith, Scottish tea bread or fruit loaf, are all names for a sweet bread which one would have with a cup of tea. However, this is even made using tea! So put the kettle on and make an extra strong pot of tea!
You also won’t believe how easy this Bara Brith tea bread is to make.
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Just soak the dried fruit with tea and sugar the night before–the next morning, throw in the egg, flour and baking powder and bake! It’s similar in taste and texture to a clootie dumpling (recipe for that one to come). Bara Brith is so moist and absolutely perfect to have with a cup of tea.
The next time you have a leftover tea in your pot, remember that you can make this Bara Brith. Scottish tea bread is super easy to make! I usually soak the dried fruit overnight, then add the egg, flour and raising agent the next morning, and throw it in a pan–done! However, you can soak the fruit in the morning and bake later in the afternoon.
Another famous Welsh recipe: Welsh cakes are absolutely more-ish!
Did I mention there’s no butter in this recipe? Save your butter for making shortbread.
Need to make this tea bread gluten free? I’ve got you covered!
What is Bara Brith?
Bara brith is a Welsh fruit bread, however, there are many similar versions across the British Isles and Ireland. The words translate to “speckled bread.” The recipes are all similar, like versions of a fruit cake in the US.
Here’s a more traditional fruit cake that’s traditional for Easter, a SImnel cake features marzipan.
Scottish tea bread is made without yeast, Bara Brith can be made the same way, or with yeast, and Irish barmbrack uses yeast. A traditional English tea loaf is also made without yeast.
You may also like this Scottish Fruit Slice recipe!
Here’s the Bara Brith recipe from a website called Glesga Pals (Glesga is Glaswegian for Glasgow).
*TIPS~
- Use 12 ounces (just under 2 1/4 c) total of dried fruit. I have made this countless times and love using orange flavored cranberries with raisins and sultanas which is really good! I used dried pineapple and DID NOT like it.
- Also, the stronger the tea, the darker the bread will be.
- I’ve also used 8 oz of tea and 2 0z of brandy, but honestly couldn’t tell the difference in the outcome.
Bara Brith (Scottish Tea Loaf)
recipe slightly adapted from Glesga Pals Dazzle’s Mammy (mother) makes one loaf
FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW
Ingredients
- Zante currants (not blackcurrants)
- raisins
- golden raisins (Sultanas)
- brown sugar
- hot black tea
- egg
- all purpose flour
- baking powder
Directions
Put all the dried fruit into a bowl with the brown sugar and pour the hot tea over the top. Cover and let stand on the counter overnight.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C)
Butter and flour the inside of a loaf tin and set aside.
Pour the fruit/tea mixture into a large bowl.
Next, add the beaten egg.
Then add the flour and baking powder and mix until well combined.
Pour the Bara Brith mixture into the prepared pan and place into preheated oven.
Bake for 60 to 65 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Allow the bread to cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then carefully remove cake from pan and place on cooling rack. Cool completely before slicing.
Serve the Scottish tea bread (Bara Brith) with a hot cup of tea. You could even toast it the next day and spread it with butter. I also had a friend from Scotland who said she fried it in the morning (like Clootie Dumpling) and absolutely raved about eating it that way. (It’s a Scottish thing).
Tea lover? Try Taylor Swift’s chai cookie recipe.
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Scottish Tea Bread (Fruit Loaf)
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup Zante currants (not blackcurrants)
- ¾ cup raisins
- ¾ cup golden raisins (Sultanas)
- 1 ¼ cup dark brown sugar (soft)
- 10 oz hot black tea
- 1 egg beaten
- 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour sifted
- 2 tsp baking powder
Instructions
- Put all the dried fruit into a bowl with the brown sugar and pour the hot tea over the top. Cover and let stand on the counter overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C)
- Butter and flour the inside of a loaf tin and set aside.
- Place the fruit mixture into a large bowl and add the beaten egg, flour and baking powder and mix until well combined.
- Pour mixture into prepared pan and place into preheated oven. Bake for 60 to 65 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
- Allow to cool in pan for 15 minutes, then carefully remove cake from pan and place on cooling rack. Cool completely before slicing. Serve with a hot cup of tea.
Notes
- Soak the fruit in tea and orange juice or tea and whisky for a wee twist.
Nutrition
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Hi Christina, still enjoying making my way around all the wonderful recipes on your website. Being Scottish myself (I live just outside Edinburgh). I wondered if you’d ever heard of Saps? My mum used to make us a bowl when we weren’t feeling well. It sounds a strange combination but it somehow worked and we always ate it up. Its just a couple of slices of bread broken up into pieces and put into a bowl. You then sprinkle with some sugar and pour hot milk over the top. The bread absorbs some of the milk but there should still be a pool of milk around the bread. Always seemed to make us feel better 😊
Oh yes, my Dad has often talked about saps (I think he’d have it with tea, too)! We grew up eating the Italian version, though! Toast and orzo and I actually posted about it HERE. Glad you are enjoying my site!! CC
Hi, I’m looking forward to trying this recipe, as a Brtish friend of mine once shared some with me, and it was delicious.
I do have one question though.
The nutritional information says it contains 0 grams of sugar. How can that be, considering the recipe calls for dark brown sugar?
Hi Sesamina, sorry for the confusion. Since I’ve recently just been adding the nutrition labels and it is soooo time consuming, I have only been adding calories, fat, carbs and protein. There is sugar, but I didn’t fill it in. I can see how this is confusing, but I have over 300 recipes to add the information to and it is so time-consuming. It’s not a super sweet bread if that’s what you were wondering. Hope this helps and enjoy! Let me know what you think after you try it!
Hi, Christina! Thanks for your reply, and for posting this wonderful recipe. Honestly, I think it’s one of those recipes that can’t go wrong. It was so easy to make. I made mine with half sultanas and half cranberries. I also cut the amount of sugar down to 1 cup. I used Starbucks’ holiday season tea, ‘Joyful’, and it turned out delicious! I will definitely be making this again and again!
Oh that’s great to hear! I agree, I don’t think it can go wrong no matter how you make it! Good to know the sugar can be reduced, too! Thanks so much for your lovely comment/review! I truly appreciate it!
This tealoaf is on my agenda this weekend. So pleased to have found your recipe………I made this when I was a college girl but mislaid the recipe……..am now 83 ! Everything comes to she who waits ! Good wishes from Cape Town !
Oh my goodness, Del! That’s fantastic! Hope it tastes exactly as you remember it! Thank you for letting me know, wonderful to hear from you in Cape Town! :) CC
I can not wait to make this, my Nan was Scottish and she would serve this for desert on Sunday lunch. I loved it then, and I am going to love it tomorrow. Thank you.
So funny that you commented on this now, Heather, because I have the fruit soaking and will bake one in the morning, also! Haven’t made one in a couple of months! Enjoy, I’m sure it will bring back memories. ❤️
Hi. I have made this several times over the years, though the recipe I have adds orange marmalade.
Hi Don, oooh, that sounds good too. I bet that was a later addition to the old recipe as it sounds a bit decadent for a recipe that was making use of old tea and no butter (probably war time). Glad you have been making it, though, it’s so tasty!
This loaf is a winner. I used some really large raisins that I found in the self-serve bins at the market, dried blueberries, sultanas and dried cranberries – probably used more fruit than the recipe called for! Soaked fruit in Chai Tea. Also used Coconut Sugar. I produced a really nice moist loaf which is most enjoyable just heated in the Toaster for a short time. I will certainly be making this one again. Thankyou for this lovely recipe ?
Yes, I’ve been doing the same, Mary! It’s a bit like Clootie Dumpling!