Today I found myself indoors yet again on accounta rain.
I puttered here and there, doing this and that, but nothing of real consequence. Near the end of the day I was feeling really bad about myself and my lack of ambition. Then I remembered something I had in my cupboard, and how I might redeem myself.
There was this small bag of dried cherries....
A few weeks ago, I ran across a recipe for something called Tea Brack. I'm thinking ... what? 'Scuse me? What is that? But as soon as I read the recipe I HAD to make it.
For this countrified farm girl, it was practically perfect in every way. It calls for whole wheat flour. I happen to have a wheat grinder and plenty of wheat berries. A nice farm fresh egg. Something I now have on hand every day. And brown sugar. Who doesn't love brown sugar?
This is the original recipe:
You may try their version first if you like. When I first made it, I didn't have all the fruit called for and I used my own tea instead of the one they recommended and my Tea Brack turned out just fine thank you very much....
This recipe comes from the award-winning cookbook, The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion.
I made changes.... this is how I made mine:
- 1 cup brewed hot tea; Numi Golden Chai
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 cup dried cherries
- 1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
- 2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- 2 1/2 tablespoons coarse raw sugar
- (don't skip the sugar.... it's really important to the finished cake!)
Directions
- Pour the hot tea over the dried fruits in a medium-sized bowl. Set the mixture aside to cool to lukewarm. 20 minutes or so.
- Preheat the oven to 350°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 with the liquid. Stir till thoroughly combined; the batter will be thick and stiff.
- Add the egg, mixing till thoroughly combined.
- Spread the mixture into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the top evenly with the coarse sparkling sugar.
- Bake the bread for 45 min or so, till a cake tester inserted in the center comes out moist, but without clinging crumbs.
- Remove it from the oven, and turn it out of the pan onto a rack to cool.
- Yield: one 8" round loaf.
I decided ahead of time that this was going to be my dinner. So I waited till late afternoon to bake it so I could eat it faintly warm from the oven...
Oh my goodness...
If you enjoy robust tea cake, with rustic texture, this is your Brack.
I fairly swooned while eating it with a mug of My Chai to go with. You surely think you are sitting in an Irish farmhouse and a lamb is going to wander into the kitchen at any moment. . . along with a chicken or two.
When you eat it next day, be sure to warm it up first. And if you think you must, pour some honey on top. It wouldn't hurt.
Let me know if you try it. :-)
