It turned out that when Ning tagged me for all this that I had been craving some fruit loaf but resisting to buy any. Then at J's funeral there was fruit loaf and then a few days later in planning for a Christmas Eve service for church fruit loaf was mentioned again. I had a look at my online bookmarked recipes and there was a link for Delia's Irish Tea Bread which I just happened to have bought all the ingredients for in preparation for making Christmas cake and decided that I really was destined to make some fruit loaf.
Delia says on her site, "It's always hard for me to believe that this simple little fruit loaf can taste so good. When we were testing recipes, this one disappeared the fastest – none of us could resist just one more little bit. It's good all by itself or spread with butter, and it's quite brilliant toasted." and I have to agree 100%. This bread was so simple to prepare and utterly delicious, I couldn't resist a slice shortly after I took it out of the oven and it was divine. I'll definitely be making this one again. In fact I may make the 2 that Delia makes in the original recipe and freeze one like she suggests! This time I only made the one, so here's Delia's recipe halved and only very slightly adapted.
4 oz raisins
4 oz currants
4 oz sultanas
2 oz whole candied peel, cut into ¼ inch (5 mm) pieces
4 oz demerara sugar
5 fl oz (275 ml) Lapsang Souchong, Earl Grey or any other hot tea
2 oz (110 g) pecan nuts
1 medium egg at room temperature, lightly beaten with 1 tbsp milk
1 cup glacé cherries (my addition to the recipe)
1/2 lb self-raising flour
1. Line a loaf tin with parchment paper.
2. Place all the fruits, including the candied peel, in a bowl, then dissolve the sugar in the hot tea, pour this over the fruits, cover the bowl and leave it overnight so the fruits become plump and juicy.
3. The next day, pre-heat the oven to 170°C
4. Add the beaten egg mixture to the bowl containing the fruits and add the cherries. 5. Sift in the flour, and mix well.
6. Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and bake in the centre of the oven for 1¼-1½ hours, until they feel springy in the centre.
7. Loosen it straight away with a palette knife and turn out on to a wire rack to cool.
