Derbyshire Tea Loaf (No Butter Fruit Cake)
Submitted by jcomtois
A traditional English fruit loaf where dried fruit soaks overnight in hot tea, then bakes low and slow with self-rising flour, mixed spice, nutmeg, and marmalade. No butter needed. Keeps brilliantly.
YIELD
8 servingsPREP
10 minCOOK
2 hrsREADY
10 hrsTea-soaked fruit is the secret to this old English loaf. Soaking dried fruit overnight in hot tea plumps it up and infuses every bite with warmth — no butter in the batter, just marmalade to bring it together. It’s the kind of dense, moist cake that slices thin and keeps for weeks wrapped in foil.
Kitchen Tips
- Use a good Earl Grey or English Breakfast tea. The tannins in the tea help keep the fruit moist during the long bake. Strongly brewed tea packs the most flavor.
- Two 1 lb loaf tins bake faster than one large tin. If you use one 7-inch tin, check at 1½ hours — the center takes longer and the edges can dry out.
- Keep the oven door shut for the first hour. Opening it too early causes the cake to collapse before the structure sets.
- Wrap cooled loaf in foil and store at room temperature for up to 2 weeks, or freeze for longer.
Variations
- Swap the mixed spice for a cinnamon-ginger blend if you prefer warmer, sweeter notes over the herbal spice profile.
- Add a thin layer of apricot jam heated with a splash of brandy to glaze the top before slicing for a bakery-style finish.
- Replace raisins with a mix of raisins, sultanas, and currants for a more complex dried fruit character.
Ingredients
Directions
Bring ½ pint (about 120 ml) of water to a boil. Steep 1 tea bag of strong English Breakfast or Earl Grey in the water for 5 minutes, then remove the bag.
Pour the hot tea over 1 pound (450g) of mixed dried fruit (raisins, sultanas, currants) and 8 ounces (225g) of chopped dried dates or prunes. Stir in the sugar, cover, and leave to soak overnight — at least 8 hours or up to 24. The fruit will plump up and the tea will be mostly absorbed.
The next day, preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Grease and line either one 7-inch (18 cm) loaf tin or two 1 lb (450g) small loaf tins with parchment paper.
Beat in one large egg, 1 pound (450g) of self-raising flour, ½ teaspoon mixed spice, and ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg. Fold in 2 tablespoons of orange marmalade until everything is evenly coated. The batter will be thick and sticky — that’s correct.
Spoon the mixture into your prepared tin(s), level the top, and bake for 1½ to 2 hours. The loaf is done when the top feels firm to the press and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. If the top is browning too quickly, cover it loosely with foil partway through baking.
Let the loaf cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.
Do not open the oven during the first hour of baking. The cake needs steady heat to rise and set its structure. Keeping the door closed is what makes it dense and moist rather than cracked and dry.
This cake keeps well wrapped in foil at room temperature for up to 2 weeks, or frozen for longer.
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