Apricot Tea Loaf

Apricot Tea Loaf is light, buttery and delicately flavoured with tangy plumped fruit plus a hint of vanilla. Quicker and easier than standard cakes, tea loaves are a lovely, sweet treat sliced and served with a cuppa or part of an afternoon tea.

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TEA LOAF: A GREAT BRITISH TRADITION

Here in Britain, we’re particularly fond of our tea loaves. Sweet bakes cooked in loaf tins and usually studded with dried fruit, they’re perfect sliced and served alongside a cuppa or as part of an afternoon tea, sometimes buttered.

They’re called ‘tea’ loaves not just because they’re traditionally associated with teatime though. It’s also because the dried fruit is often plumped up and made juicy by soaking in hot tea. Once cool, some of the soaking liquid is then included in the batter.

While most tea loaves would originally been made with yeast, this became unnecessary thanks to the development of raising agents such as baking powder in the nineteenth century. Which means that tea loaves (I think of them as simplified cakes) are wonderfully quick and easy, even for beginner bakers.

And the recipe I’m sharing today is a lovely example. Apricot Tea Loaf is light, buttery and delicately flavoured with the almost floral yet tangy fruit, complemented by a hint of vanilla. Wonderful sliced, served with or without butter.

APRICOT TEA LOAF

Simple but so good, I hope you like my Apricot Tea Loaf as much as I do. It only needs around 20 minutes of hands-on time and bakes in less than an hour. Do remember to leave time for soaking then cooling the apricots. I tend to do this well in advance as it’s usually more convenient.

While many or even most tea loaves feature darker dried fruits such as sultanas, raisins, and currants, I decided to make this one a little lighter so include dried apricots only. I think this gives a lovely delicate flavour.

Also, while it’s common to not include butter in tea breads, my Apricot Tea Loaf has a lovely buttery, cake-like flavour and texture. That doesn’t stop me sometimes spreading it with butter too though!

You’ll find a recipe card at the end with ingredient amounts and full instructions. But please read the whole of this post for extra tips plus images to guide and inspire you.

EQUIPMENT

Tip: you’ll find these and more of the recommended equipment I use in my Amazon store which helps support this blog at no extra cost to you.

You’ll need a small loaf tin with a capacity of 450 ml/1 lb. Even if yours is non-stick like mine, I recommend you grease it anyway. To remove the tea loaf easily, I also line the bottom of the tin with a piece of baking paper long enough to come up above the short sides.

If preferred, you could double the ingredients and bake in a 900 ml / 2lb loaf tin. You will need to increase the baking time by approximately 15 minutes.

For the best results, please use digital scales and metric measurements as these were used in testing the recipe.

INGREDIENTS

• Dried apricots.
• Tea. I’ve used English breakfast tea but any, including fruit or herbal, are fine.
• Self-raising flour. If preferred, swap in plain/all-purpose flour + 2 level teaspoons of baking powder.
• Salt. To enhance all the flavours.

• Butter. For rich flavour as well as its binding properties.
• Caster sugar.
• Eggs. Essential for a light bake.
• Vanilla extract. I like the subtle background flavour it brings, but you could leave out if you don’t have it.

HOW TO MAKE APRICOT TEA LOAF

As mentioned above, the first thing to do is soak the chopped apricots in the hot tea. They need to be cold before adding to the batter, so start them off at least an hour before. Just make up the tea to the strength you normally would. You’ll need approximately 300 ml to completely cover the chopped apricots.

When cold, strain the apricots through a sieve placed over a jug so you don’t lose the soaking liquor. Transfer the apricots to a piece of kitchen paper to dry them off while you begin the batter. As this won’t take long, have your oven preheated as per the recipe card.

Sift the flour and salt into a roomy mixing bowl. Now grate in the butter, dipping it into the flour now and then so it doesn’t stick. Using your fingertips, rub the butter pieces into the flour until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Stir in the apricots and sugar.

Crack the eggs into a smaller bowl and add 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of the cold soaking liquor plus the vanilla extract. Use a small whisk to combine them, then pour all of it into the big mixing bowl.

Use a silicone spatula or similar to fold everything together, creating a batter with a firm dropping consistency i.e. it should stay on the spoon but fall off if you give a firm shake. If necessary, add more of the soaking liquor to achieve this, but only a drop at a time so the batter doesn’t become loose. For the tea loaf you see here, I only needed another teaspoon or so.

Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf tin, pressing it down lightly and smoothing the top.

BAKING, COOLING & STORING

Place in the preheated oven and bake until risen, golden brown and a skewer or cocktail stick comes out clean. This should take between 45 and 55 minutes, but ovens do vary. Also, loaf tins with the same capacity but different dimensions (e.g. deeper and narrow like mine, vs shallow and wide) will cook at different rates. I recommend looking after 35 minutes and, if the loaf’s darkening too quickly, turn the oven down a few degrees.

Remove from the oven when done but leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out. As with any cake, put it on a cooling rack until completely cold before slicing or storing. Wrapped well in foil and in an airtight container, this Apricot Tea Loaf will keep for up to 4 days. You can also freeze it, either as a whole loaf or in slices.

SIMPLE BUT SO GOOD

It’s no wonder us Brits love our tea loaves. So simple to put together, and with ingredients that most bakers will have in the house, they’re a lovely, homely tradition as part of an afternoon tea or at any time with a cuppa.

And I think my delicately flavoured Apricot Tea Loaf makes a pleasant change from the more usual with dark fruits like sultanas, raisins or currants.

If you’ve made this recipe, I’d love to know what you thought. Please do leave a comment and rating.

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Apricot Tea Loaf

Light, buttery and delicately flavoured with tangy plumped fruit plus a hint of vanilla, this tea loaf is lovely served with a cuppa or part of an afternoon tea.

You'll need a 450 ml/1 lb capacity loaf tin. Ingredients can also be doubled and the loaf baked in a 900 m/2 lb tin for 60 - 75 minutes.

Please read the accompanying blog post before starting and use digital scales and metric measurements for the best results.

Course Dessert, Snack, Cake

Cuisine British, European

Keyword easy

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 55 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Servings 6 - 8

Author Moorlands Eater

Ingredients

• 100 g dried apricots (chopped)
• 300 ml hot tea (any flavour)
• 225 g self-raising flour (or plain/all-purpose + 2 level tsp baking powder)
• ¼ tsp salt
• 100 g butter, cold (plus extra for greasing the tin)
• 100 g caster sugar
• 2 medium eggs
• 5 ml (1 tsp) vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Put the chopped apricots in a heatproof bowl and cover with the hot tea.

   Stir then set aside until cold.

   Drain, but reserve the soaking liquor, and pat the apricots dry on kitchen paper.

2. Preheat your oven to 180°C /160° Fan /Gas 4 /350°F with a shelf in the middle position.

3. Butter a small, non-stick loaf tin (capacity 450ml or 1 lb) and line the bottom with baking paper so it comes up two of the sides.

4. Sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl.

   Grate in the butter: dip it in the flour now and again to stop it sticking to the grater. Rub in with your fingertips until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs.

   Stir in the sugar and the apricots.

5. In a smaller bowl, beat the eggs with 15 ml (1 tbsp) of the reserved soaking liquor plus the vanilla extract.

   Pour into the mixing bowl and fold everything together well, creating a batter with a firm dropping consistency i.e. the mixture should stay on the spoon but fall off if given a firm shake. If necessary, add more of the soaking liquor to achieve this but only a drop at a time so the batter doesn't become loose.

6. Transfer the batter to the prepared tin, pressing it down lightly and smoothing the top.

7. Place in the preheated oven and bake until risen, golden brown, and a skewer or cocktail stick comes out clean. (45 - 55 min).

   Tip: check at 35 minutes that the loaf isn't darkening too quickly and turn the oven down a little if necessary.

8. Remove from the oven but leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out and transferring to a rack until cold.

   Serve sliced either on its own or spread with butter.

9. To store, wrap well in foil and keep in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

   Can also be frozen as a whole loaf or in slices.

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