Very Fruity Irish Tea Cake

1 hour 10 minutes
to cook

There are many versions of this and the type of tea used varies from what I call common tea to… you name it.

But more importantly we have crammed in as much fruit as we could. Thus it keeps very moist and, later on, toasts beautifully.

The Delia Online Cookery School: You can watch how to make Very Fruity Irish Tea Cake in our video, click the image to play.

A picture of Delia's Cakes

This recipe is from Delia's Cakes.


  • method
  • Ingredients

Method

I always find it’s best to start this the night before.

All you do is place the fruits and peel in a bowl, then dissolve the sugar in the hot tea and pour this over the fruits. Then cover with a cloth and leave them to soak – as the fruits absorb the tea they become plump and juicy. When you are ready to make the cake, pre-heat the oven to 170°C, gas mark 3, then place the nuts on a baking sheet and pop them into the oven. Give them about 8 minutes to toast, but put a timer on because they burn very easily.

After they have cooled, roughly chop the nuts. Now whisk the egg and add it to the fruits and after that sift in the flour, add the toasted nuts and give everything a thorough mixing. Then add a tablespoon of milk, and if the mixture still feels stiff, stir in another. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin, levelling off with the back of a tablespoon dipped in cold water. Then place it on a lower shelf so that the top of the tin is aligned with the centre of the oven, and bake for 1 hour 10 minutes until it feels springy in the centre. When it comes out of the oven, turn it out onto a wire rack to cool.

Serve it cut in thick slices spread generously with butter and although it does keep well in an airtight tin in its liner, it’s also extremely good toasted.

Ingredients

For the pre-soaking
150ml hot tea, any kind (Lapsang, Earl Grey or any other)

Additional

See method for oven temperature

Using a fan-assisted oven? Click here

Equipment

You will need a Delia Online 1lb Loaf Tin (or a standard 2lb loaf tin), lined with a 1lb Bake-0-Glide loaf tin liner. The different sizes mentioned are correct - click here for more details.

The Delia Online bakeware range is now available online, and you can buy our Delia Online Loaf Tin direct from Silverwood.
Click here for the tin

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