Bara brith

INGREDIENTS

300g mixed fruit
200g light muscovado sugar
zest 1 orange
250ml hot black tea
350g self-raising flour
2 tsp mixed spice
1 large egg, beaten
50g soft butter, plus extra for greasing and to serve (optional)

PROCEDURE

• Tip the fruit into a bowl with the sugar and orange zest. Pour over the tea, stir everything together and leave to soak overnight.
• Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Grease and line the base and short sides of a 900g/loaf tin with 1 strip of baking parchment. Tip the flour and spice into a bowl, and beat in the fruit and soaking liquid. Add the egg, followed by the butter. Beat until you have a well-combined, stiff batter, then tip into the prepared loaf tin. Bake for 1¼ hrs, covering with foil or parchment if the top starts to get too dark. Check with a skewer – if it doesn’t come out clean, give it another 5-10 mins in the oven.
• Leave to cool in the tin for 10 mins, then remove and leave to cool completely. Serve sliced and buttered, if you like.

SOURCE: bbcgoodfood.com