Welcome to friend and fellow author, Cindy Thomson, who shares a recipe with us for a delicious tea brack. Cindy is the author of several historical novels set in Ireland or that have Irish characters. Welcome to Historical Nibbles, Cindy!
by Cindy Thomson
Ireland is a rural country dotted with seemingly endless family farms. Local beef, potatoes, cold weather vegetables, free range eggs … are all the things you’d expect to find enrich a meal in Ireland.
I love tea brack—a traditional Irish fruit loaf or tea cake. Everywhere you go in Ireland, you are offered tea anytime of the day. I loved that since I love tea.
My interest in Ireland started with my genealogy. I wanted to learn more about my ancestors who came over from Ireland in the 18th century. I learned about Irish culture and history and wrote about it in both my fiction and nonfiction.
I write stories that seek to share the legacy those before left for us. Their joys and sorrows, their lessons learned, can teach us so much. I have two fiction series. The Daughters of Ireland series includes Brigid of Ireland, Pages of Ireland, and Enya’s Son. They are set in ancient Ireland and are based on legends. My Ellis Island series features immigrants, most from Ireland but there is an Italian immigrant main character as well. The characters all live in a boarding house run by an English woman. The books are Grace’s Pictures, Annie’s Stories, and Sofia’s Tune. Subscribers to my newsletter receive a free novella, which is the boarding house woman’s story, a prequel.
I’m sharing a recipe for tea brack today.
Ingredients
- 1 cup brewed hot tea, Irish breakfast tea is a good choice
- 1 cup raisins, packed
- 1/2 cup currants, packed
- 1 cup pitted prunes, snipped into small pieces
- 1 cup chopped dates
- 1 cup light brown sugar or dark brown sugar, firmly packed
- 2 cups light wheat flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- 2 1/2 tablespoons coarse sparkling sugar
Pour the hot tea over the dried fruits in a medium-sized bowl. Set the mixture aside to cool to lukewarm, about 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly grease an 8″ x 2″ round cake pan. If your pan isn’t at least 2″ deep, use a 9″ round pan.
In a medium-sized bowl, stir together the brown sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the dried fruit, and any remaining liquid. Stir until thoroughly combined; the batter will be thick and stiff. Add the egg, mixing until thoroughly combined.
Spread the mixture into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the top evenly with the coarse sparkling sugar. Bake the bread for 60 to 70 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out moist, but without clinging crumbs. Turn the bread out of the pan onto a rack.
I hope you enjoy this delicious bread as much as my family does.
About Cindy
Known for the inspirational Celtic theme employed in most of her books, Cindy Thomson is the author of two novel series and several non-fiction books. She is the owner of a team blog Novel PASTimes, vice president of the Mordecai Brown Legacy Foundation, and co-founder of the Faith & Fellowship Book Festival. She is also a frequent Thurber House creative writing teacher. As a genealogy enthusiast, she does research for hire and writes from her home in central Ohio where she lives with her husband Tom near their three grown sons and their families. Visit her online at CindysWriting.com, on Facebook: Facebook.com/Cindyswriting, Twitter: @cindyswriting, Pinterest: @cindyswriting and Book Bub: @cindyswriting.
Sandra Merville Hart 