Irish Tea Brack with Dried Fruit

Instructions

1. 1

   Soak the fruit

   Put the raisins, sultanas and candied citrus peel in a bowl. Pour over 250 ml of hot black tea, stir and leave to soak for 30 minutes.

   
2. 2

   Prepare the tin and dry ingredients

   Preheat the oven to 170 °C. Line a loaf tin with a capacity of approximately 900 ml with baking paper. In a second bowl, mix the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.

   
3. 3

   Mix the batter

   Beat the egg with a fork and stir it into the soaked fruit along with the tea. Pour the fruit mixture into the dry ingredients and mix just until no dry patches remain; the batter will be thick and full of fruit.

   
4. 4

   Bake the brack

   Transfer the batter to the prepared tin and level the top. Bake at 170 °C for approximately 55 minutes; a skewer inserted into the centre should come out without any raw batter on it. If the top is browning too quickly, loosely cover it with baking paper towards the end.

   
5. 5

   Cool and slice

   Leave the brack in the tin for 10 minutes, then remove it and cool completely on a wire rack so the crumb does not crumble when sliced. Cut into 8 slices.