Bara brith – which can be translated to ‘speckled bread’ – is a truly delicious Welsh loaf cake. Packed full of fruit (which is soaked in black tea), this cake is absolutely perfect for serving spread with good Welsh butter, with a nice cup of tea on the side.
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Bara brith is a cake that I have loved all of my life. It’s one of those really comforting tastes – it reminds me of childhood. My nain made Bara brith often, and so it reminds me of her and our trips to Anglesey to visit her.
I wanted to share this recipe with you because it is beautiful, easy to make and NEVER goes wrong! It’s the perfect loaf cake to bake if you’re visiting someone too – if you know someone with a newborn, bake this and give it to them! It’s perfect for one handed snacking with a baby in the other hand.
Bara Brith – The Ingredients
- Mixed Fruit – any kind of dried mixed fruit will work here, from your most basic to fancier varieties. I like to keep it simple with this mixed fruit.
- Light brown sugar – this is a key ingredient and gives Bara brith its delicious caramel-like flavour. Don’t switch with any other type of sugar.
- Hot black tea – any kind of black tea will work, such as English breakfast tea. Steep it for about 5 minutes before using in this recipe. If you’re using a teabag, one will be enough for this amount of liquid.
- Self-raising flour – use white flour.
- Mixed spice and ground ginger – these spices give bara brith a lovely warm taste. Don’t switch them up.
- Egg – necessary for binding.
- Butter – brings a richness to the cake. Salted or unsalted is fine.
Cooking the Cake
Cooking bara brith is straightforward – just follow the steps carefully. Here are some extra tips from me:
- When you’re soaking the fruit, leave it somewhere room temperature. I made the mistake of leaving it on a very cold windowsill once, and it was quite solid in the morning! If this does happen to you, no worries – just put it somewhere warm for thirty minutes and it will loosen up, if stirring doesn’t work.
- It is important that you make sure the mixture is really well combined before putting in the loaf tin, otherwise it won’t cook evenly.
- Use a loaf tin liner if you have one! It makes the faff of lining and greasing the loaf tin yourself a lot easier. You just need to pop it in the tin, no greasing required.
- Check that the loaf is cooked through before removing it from the oven. You can do this by poking the middle of it with a skewer – if it comes out clean, it’s done. If it isn’t done, just give it 10 more minutes and check again. You can repeat as needed.
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Bara Brith
Save This RecipeIngredients
- 400 g dried mixed fruit
- 250 g light brown sugar
- 250 ml hot black tea
- 350 g self-raising flour
- 2 tsp mixed spice
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 egg
- 50 g soft butter
Instructions
- First, put your mixed fruit in a large bowl. Add the sugar and tea. Stir, then cover with a tea towel and leave to soak overnight.
- The next day, give the fruit a stir to loosen it up.
- Preheat the oven to 160?
- Line a loaf tin with baking parchment (or a loaf tin liner).
- Pour the flour into the bowl with the fruit. Add the mixed spice and ginger. Stir well.
- Crack the egg into the bowl and add the butter. Mix again, until everything is fully combined. You should have a fairly stiff dough.
- Spoon the dough into the loaf tin. Smooth the top with a spoon, then put in the oven. Cook for 1 hour 30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. If the top starts to get too dark, cover with tinfoil.
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