February 23, 2023

Irish Tea Bread Recipe

Our Irish Tea Bread Recipe, also known as Tea Brack, is somewhere between a quick bread and a fruit cake. With brown sugar, whole wheat flour, and tea-soaked dried fruit, it is delightfully dense and sweet and is best spread with salted butter and served with a strong cup of tea. Enjoy our take on this Irish classic.

We recommend pairing this recipe with our Wisteria White currant black tea (scroll past the recipe to see additional tea recommendations).

Irish Tea Bread Recipe

Prep Time: 35 minutes

Bake Time: 45 minutes

Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients

1 cup (8oz.) hot, brewed black tea such as English Breakfast or Irish Breakfast
1 ½ cups dried currants
1 cup chopped dried dates
1 egg
½ cup dark brown sugar, packed
2 Tbsp. butter, melted and cooled
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. Kosher salt
½ tsp. cinnamon
½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
2 Tbsp. turbinado sugar or crystal sugar (we used crystal sugar)

Instructions:

Pour the hot tea over the dried currants and dates and set aside for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Grease a bread loaf pan with butter, or generously spray with non-stick cooking spray.
In a large bowl, whisk the egg, brown sugar, and melted butter (make sure the butter is not too hot or it could cook the egg) until the sugar is mostly dissolved.
In a separate small bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon until well-combined. If using chopped pecans or walnuts, whisk them in as well. Set aside.
Add the dried fruit and tea into the egg/sugar mixture (make sure the tea is not too hot or it could cook the egg). Whisk until it is all well-combined.
Add the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and fold it in just until it is all moistened. Try not to over-mix the batter. It will be thick.
Spread the batter into the prepared pan and evenly sprinkle the top of the batter with turbinado sugar.
Bake for 45 minutes, until a toothpick or knife inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean. Add a little more time in 5-minute intervals if necessary. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan then turn out onto a wire rack. Allow to cool completely before slicing and serving with soft butter to spread.

Enjoy!

Baking Tips:

We do not recommend using a convection setting on an oven for this recipe.
You can use any fruity black tea to soak the currants and dates, but we do not recommend floral teas for this recipe.