Irish Tea Brack
Irish Tea Brack is a not-too-sweet quick bread that is moist and full of dried fruits that have been soaked in strong black tea. Honey glaze is brushed on when the loaf is hot from the oven.
The name of this recipe highlights the unusual (for us Yanks anyway) use of brewed tea as an ingredient.
Because it is a quick bread it couldn’t be easier to make. You don’t need a mixer or lots of bowls to put together the recipe. Other than soaking the fruit for an hour or so the recipe is very, well, “quick” to make.
Recipe Ingredients
- Golden raisins
- Currants
- Dried dates
- Freshly brewed black tea
- Lemon
- Orange
- Brown sugar
- Honey
- Egg
- All purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Baking soda
- Cinnamon
- Ginger
- Cloves
- Irish whiskey (optional)
How to make Irish Tea Brack
- Combine the dried fruits in a large bowl.
- Brew hot tea.
- Pour the hot tea over the fruit and set it aside for at least an hour.
- Pour the fruit and tea over the dry ingredients and mix to combine.
- Pour the batter into a loaf pan lined with a parchment “sling”.
- Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- As soon as the loaf comes out of the oven brush it honey-whisky glaze.
Pastry Chef tips for making Irish Tea Brack
- Because it’s not particularly rich or sweet, a slice of this loaf is great for breakfast.
- The loaf will keep for 2-3 days at room temperature.
- Leftovers can be sliced and frozen.
- Leftover slices toast beautifully.
Enjoy!
Looking for more Irish inspired recipes?
- Irish Soda Bread
- Irish Brown Bread
- Baileys Pot de Creme
- Baileys Bundt Cakes
- Baileys Cheesecake
- Baileys Chocolate Macarons
- Guinness Fudge Cake
- Triple Guinness Cake
- Irish Potato Farls
- Irish Apple Cake
- Irish Coffee Trifle
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Irish Tea Brack
Irish Tea Brack is a not-too-sweet bread that is moist and filled with dried fruits soaked in strong black tea. Glaze the loaf with honey and (optional) whiskey when it’s hot from the oven.
servings
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Ingredients
- 4 ounces golden raisins (⅔ cup)
- 4 ounces currants (⅔ cup)
- 4 ounces chopped dried dates (⅔ cup)
- 12 ounces freshly brewed black tea (1 ¼ cups)
- 1 lemon
- 1 orange
- 4 ounces brown sugar (½ cup)
- 4 ½ ounces honey (6 tablespoons)
- 1 large egg
- 10 ounces all purpose flour (2 cups, see note)
- 1 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ginger
- ¼ teaspoon cloves
- 2 tablespoons Irish whiskey (see note)
Instructions
- Combine the raisins, currants and dates in a large heat-proof bowl. Pour the hot tea over the fruit. Add finely grated zest and all the juice from the lemon and the orange. Cover the bowl and set aside for 1 hour.4 ounces golden raisins, 4 ounces currants, 4 ounces chopped dried dates, 12 ounces freshly brewed black tea, 1 lemon, 1 orange
- Butter a 9"x5" loaf pan, or spray with cooking spray, and line with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 325 °F.
- Add the brown sugar, ¼ cup of honey and the egg to the soaked fruit and mix to combine. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda and spices.4 ounces brown sugar, 4 ½ ounces honey, 1 large egg, 10 ounces all purpose flour, 1 teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ginger, ¼ teaspoon cloves
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just until combined.
- Pour the batter into the pan and smooth it out. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour.
- While the cake bakes, stir together the whisky and the remaining 2 tablespoons of honey.2 tablespoons Irish whiskey
- As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, brush the whiskey mixture over the top of the loaf. Use all the glaze, it will absorb as the cake cools. Cool the loaf 20 minutes before removing from the pan.
- Cool completely before slicing.
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Notes
If measuring the flour by volume use the “dip & sweep” method. That is, dip the measuring cup into the flour bin, overfill it, then sweep away the excess.
You can use any mix of dried fruits that you like. Dark raisins, craisins or dried apricots would work well.
For an alcohol-free glaze use cold tea in place of the whiskey.
Because the cake has very little fat, the loaf is best the day it is baked. Leftovers can be sliced, wrapped and frozen. I suggest you toast before serving.
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @eileen.bakingsense or tag #bakingsense!
I’ve been using this recipe for over a year – I add a bit of jam into mix – it’s delicious so moist cooks and hold well and lovely with bit of butter – puzzled as to why measurements are not in grams anymore
Hi Emma, I updated the recipe card and forgot to add the metric conversion. It’s been fixed. Just click on the button at the top of the recipe card to see metric measures. Thanks for the heads up.