Cornish Fruited Tea Bread – This delicious fruit loaf is made with yeast and saffron & tea infused fruit, and is delectable when toasted.
Made with English Tea from Cornwall
This delicious fruit loaf is made with yeast and saffron & tea infused fruit. It’s based on the famous Cornish Saffron Cake, but with tea and not milk being used as the liquid ingredient.
It is a recipe that I created in collaboration with Viking Cruises, and Tregothnan Estate a few years ago, after a visit to their Tea Gardens in Cornwall.
It’s a tea loaf recipe, but a yeasted version – essentially a sweet bread with fruit added, similar to Hot Cross Buns, which means it is denser than a normal tea loaf.
We love this for breakfast, with butter of course, and jam, or marmalade, and it toasts beautifully when it is slightly stale.
This Cornish Fruited Tea Bread also makes a fabulous supper snack, and I often serve it with a mug of milky coffee or a Horlicks before we go to bed.
Serve this in thick slices with Cornish butter and a cuppa; it’s also delectable when toasted, as I mentioned before, and served with cheese.
Culinary Notes
- Serve warm, at room temperature, or toasted with butter, jam, marmalade or cheese.
- Freezes well in slices. Defrost for 2 to 3 hours before eating it.
- Use any tea that is local to you – but a strong English breakfast tea is best.
- Makes fabulous “French Toast“.
- I used dried mixed fruit with candied peel, but you can vary what dried fruit you use, such as just sultanas, or a mix of raisins, currants and dried cranberries.
- See my other Cornish Tea recipe here: Earl Grey Fruit Scones
More Cornish Recipes or Recipes using Cornish Ingredients
More Dried Fruit Recipes
Cornish Fruited Tea Bread Recipe
Cornish Fruited Tea Bread
This delicious fruit loaf is made with yeast and saffron & tea infused fruit. It’s based on the famous Cornish Saffron Cake, but with tea and not milk being used as the liquid ingredient.
It is a recipe that I created in collaboration with Viking Cruises, and Tregothnan Estate a few years ago, after a visit to their Tea Gardens in Cornwall.
It's a tea loaf recipe, but a yeasted version - essentially a sweet bread with fruit added, similar to Hot Cross Buns, which means it is denser than a normal tea loaf.
We love this for breakfast, with butter of course, and jam, or marmalade, and it toasts beautifully when it is slightly stale.
This Cornish Fruited Tea Bread also makes a fabulous supper snack, and I often serve it with a mug of milky coffee or a Horlicks before we go to bed.
Serve this in thick slices with Cornish butter and a cuppa; it’s also delectable when toasted, as I mentioned before, and served with cheese.
Ingredients
- 1/4 teaspoon saffron threads
- 150ml freshly brewed tea (I used Tregothnan English breakfast tea)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 60g caster sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon mixed spice
- 450g plain white flour
- 120g softened butter
- 115g mixed dried fruit
- 7g sachet fast action dried yeast
Instructions
- Add the saffron threads to the warm or tepid freshly brewed tea and set aside.
- Sift the sugar and salt into the flour and rub in the softened butter. Add the fruit and mix well.
- Add the dried yeast and then the saffron tea mixture. Mix well with a wooden spoon and then tip the dough out into a well floured board and knead with your hands until you have a soft, smooth call of dough.
- Place the dough into a lightly buttered bowl, cover and set aside in a warm place to rise for 1 1/2 hours, or until the dough has almost doubled in size.
- Knead into a loaf shape and place into a well greased loaf tin. Cover and allow to rise again for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 200C/180C Fan/400F.
- Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until the loaf is well risen.
- Leave to cool before serving in slices with butter.
Notes
- Serve warm, at room temperature, or toasted with butter, jam, marmalade or cheese.
- Freezes well in slices. Defrost for 2 to 3 hours before eating it.
- Use any tea that is local to you - but a strong English breakfast tea is best.
- Makes fabulous "French Toast".
- I used dried mixed fruit with candied peel, but you can vary what dried fruit you use, such as just sultanas, or a mix of raisins, currants and dried cranberries.
- See my other Cornish Tea recipe here: Earl Grey Fruit Scones
Nutrition Information
Yield 10 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 304Total Fat 10gSaturated Fat 6gUnsaturated Fat 4gCholesterol 26mgSodium 189mgCarbohydrates 48gFiber 2gSugar 12gProtein 5g
Grace says
This looks absolutely lovely! I was wondering what spices are typically included in Mixed Spice? I wasn’t sure if that was a proper noun, or just baker’s choice. I was thinking cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and Allspice unless that seems too much like pumpkin pie spice!