Fruity Delia Smith tea bread is her Irish fruit loaf of raisins, currants, sultanas and peel, soaked overnight in hot tea. Next day you stir in toasted pecans, an egg and self-raising flour, then bake one 2lb loaf at 170°C for 70 minutes. It needs an overnight soak plus about 95 minutes, and cuts into about 6 thick slices.
Delia first printed it as Irish Tea Bread in her How to Cook series (Book One, 1998), as a recipe for two small loaves. She says she can hardly believe such a simple little fruit loaf tastes so good. It also disappeared fastest of all while her team tested recipes.
In Delia’s Cakes (2014) it became the Very Fruity Irish Tea Cake, half the size and with far less sugar. That version is the one on her website, filed under St Patrick’s Day and shown in her video lesson on loaf cakes.
There is no butter in it, but Delia packs in as much fruit as the mixture will hold, so the loaf stays moist. Delia keeps it in an airtight tin in its liner and serves it in thick buttered slices, or toasted. The spiced date and walnut cake in the same tea breads chapter of her 2003 Baking book is made with treacle instead of tea.
Delia Smith Irish Tea Bread with Pecans
A moist, fruit-packed loaf of dried fruit soaked in tea, with toasted pecans and a gentle demerara sweetness.
6
servings15
minutes1
hour18
minutes420
kcalIngredients
- For the pre-soaking:
110g raisins
110g currants
110g sultanas
50g chopped candied peel
50g demerara sugar
150ml hot tea, any kind
- For the loaf:
50g pecan nuts
1 large egg
225g self-raising flour
1 to 2 tablespoons milk
Directions
- Soak: The night before, put all the dried fruit and the peel in a bowl. Dissolve the sugar in the hot tea, pour it over the fruit, cover with a cloth and leave it to soak overnight.
- Toast: Next day, heat the oven to 170°C, fan 150°C, gas mark 3, and line a 2lb loaf tin. Toast the pecans on a baking sheet for about 8 minutes, using a timer, then cool and chop them roughly.
- Mix: Whisk the egg and stir it into the fruit. Sift in the flour, add the pecans and mix thoroughly. Stir in a tablespoon of milk, and a second one if the mixture still feels stiff.
- Fill: Spoon the mixture into the tin and level the top with the back of a tablespoon dipped in cold water.
- Bake: Bake on a lower shelf, so the top of the tin is level with the centre of the oven. Give it 1 hour 10 minutes, until it feels springy in the centre.
- Cool: Turn the loaf out onto a wire rack to cool.
FAQs
Which tea should I use?
Any hot tea works in this tea bread, from everyday tea to Lapsang Souchong or Earl Grey, Delia says. The smoky Lapsang and the scented Earl Grey give the fruit a slightly different flavour, which is my own note.
Is it a 1lb or a 2lb loaf tin?
Use a standard 2lb (900g) loaf tin for this tea bread, lined with a liner or baking parchment. Her website names her own Delia Online “1lb” tin, but it says that tin and a standard 2lb tin are both correct for this mixture.
How do I make it gluten-free?
Swap the self-raising flour for a gluten-free self-raising flour, as her website lists this recipe among its gluten-free bakes. Her team tested every recipe in Delia’s Cakes (2014) that way. They found very little difference with fruit cakes, though a cake can turn out a little more crumbly.
How do I make two small loaves?
Use her original Irish Tea Bread from 1998 and 2003, made for two 450g (1lb) loaf tins. It has about twice the fruit, pecans and flour, and much more sugar. The table below shows each amount next to the one-loaf card.
Bake both loaves together in a 170°C oven for 1¼ to 1½ hours, then turn them out at once with a palette knife. If you only need one loaf, Delia says the second one freezes well.
Her one-loaf and two-loaf versions
The card follows Delia’s Cakes (2014). Her Irish Tea Bread from 1998 (How to Cook) and 2003 (The Delia Collection: Baking) makes two loaves, and each one serves 4 to 6.
| Ingredient | One 2lb loaf (2014) | Two 1lb loaves (1998 and 2003) |
|---|---|---|
| Raisins, currants and sultanas | 110g of each | 225g of each |
| Candied peel | 50g | 110g |
| Demerara sugar | 50g | 225g |
| Hot tea | 150ml | 275ml |
| Pecan nuts | 50g | 110g |
| Egg and milk | 1 large egg, 1 to 2 tablespoons milk | 1 large egg beaten with 2 tablespoons milk |
| Self-raising flour | 225g | 450g |
| Baking time at 170°C | 1 hour 10 minutes | 1¼ to 1½ hours |
