A very British tea bread

Over the weekend I rediscovered an oldie-but-goodie recipe I'd forgotten about. Perhaps because the Olympics have our thoughts turned London-ward, I had picked up my copy of The National Trust book "Tea-time Recipes" by Jane Pettigrew. The recipe I used to enjoy years ago was called Fatless Tea Bread, a name I liked because "fatless" sounds so much better than "fat-free" for some reason!

It's really just a good fruitcake-tasting tea bread, so if you don't like that spongey-springy texture of fruitcake, this may not be your cup of you-know-what. But if you do like fruitcake and those steamed pudding textured desserts, give this a try. The liquid in the batter is cold tea, interestingly enough. Here's the recipe as I made it.

Fatless Tea Bread

1 pound mixed dried fruit (I used a mixture of raisins and currants, and I've also made it with dried cranberries and sultanas with good results)
10 ounces cold tea
10 ounces self-rising flour
5 ounces brown sugar (light or dark)
1 egg

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and line a loaf tin. Combine all ingredients and mix until blended well. Pour into tin and bake for 2 hours (yes, 2 hours!) until a tester comes out clean. Turn onto wire rack to cool.

*You know how they say that if you coat the dried fruit with flour, it won't sink in the batter? Well, I DO coat the fruit with flour, and in this recipe it still sinks, although that doesn't affect the taste. If someone knows another trick to try, I'm willing!