Karen Wright: Simple to make Yorkshire tea loaf recipe for Yorkshire Day

Karen Wright writes: This time I am heading down to Bath for a stint on the demo stage with the Fantastic Food Festivals.

We are towing the caravan once again and the plan is to stay at the Caravan and Motorhome Club site at Tewksbury and then on to Longleat.

By all accounts, at Longleat, the sound of twittering birds in the hedgerows is replaced by the roaring of lions, as the site is next to the safari park!

It is Yorkshire Day on August 1 and I wanted to make something traditional to take with us to enjoy with a cuppa on the day itself.

I chose a Yorkshire tea loaf as it stores and travels well.

In other parts of the UK this bake is also known as bara brith and barmbrack.

It is a plain, heavily fruited bread that is perfect spread with butter and accompanied by Wensleydale cheese, apple slices and a bunch of grapes.

All washed down with a proper cup of tea – Yorkshire of course!

The loaf is very easy to make and contains no butter or fat.

The most important thing is to soak the dried fruit in strong black tea for several hours or even overnight.

This plumps up the fruit and gives the loaf its flavour.

This is how I made it:

I soaked 350g of dried fruit in 350ml tea.

After soaking I mixed in two large eggs, 200g brown sugar, 1 tsp tea leaves and 270g self-raising flour.

I also added a tsp mixed spice and the zest of an orange.

I greased two small loaf tins and shared the mixture between them.

I baked them at 170c (150c for fan oven) for about an hour.

To check whether the loaves are ready you can insert a skewer to the centre of the loaf, if it comes out clean it’s ready to come out of the oven.

I will be back in Wakefield on August 6 to take part in the city wide event ‘A Grand Day Out’.

I am hosting workshops for children and their adults in the Ridings.

We will be preparing focaccia bread to bake at home.

Tickets and ingredients are free too, so why not join me! Book your place on the https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/ website.

Visit my website http://www.karenwrightbake.co.uk for more tips and recipes.