How my search for a traditional Welsh tea bread recipe led me to a taste of home
Packed to the brim with tea-soaked fruit, served warm and spread with salty butter, a slice of bara brith is hard to beat.
Growing up in the U.K., I tasted bara brith a couple of times while visiting family in Wales, but it wasn't until I was older that I really learned to appreciate this festive loaf.
I love tea and I love baking, so I was intrigued by the historic Welsh tea bread. After researching a few recipes, including an official Welsh recipe and one from the BBC, I asked my mom for some tips and adjusted the recipe based on the American ingredients I could find. Then, I gave it a try.
While baking, the bread filled the house with the smell of cinnamon, nutmeg and caramelizing raisins. The result was a delicious, spice-filled bread packed with sweet dried fruit.
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What's the story of this Welsh tea loaf?
The history of bara brith is as old as the Welsh hills with as many twists and turns as a country road. The name bara brith translates to speckled bread as fruit dots the loaf, but the origins of the recipe are unknown, with many families passing down recipes through generations of bakers.
Historians have traced the arrival of tea to Britain to the 1650s, and the spices and dried fruits necessary for the recipe would have also been imported around that time.
By the 1800's, the bread had traveled west with a group of Welsh settlers who moved to the Chubut River region of Patagonia, Argentina. In 1865, they establish a colony in the rugged countryside. They brought their recipes and food traditions with them, making bara brith with yeast and dried fruits including currants, sultanas and citrus peel.
The bread became popular in Argentina, where it's now known as Torta Galesa or Welsh cake. It's still is eaten there today and variations on the bread spread to other South American countries. The Argentinian version now includes mixed nuts and a splash of rum.
Back in Wales, the cake modernized in different ways. With the arrival of self raising flour, yeast was no longer needed and the process of making the bread became a little easier.
An American take on a Welsh tradition
In the U.S., I've modified the recipe further. The traditional fruit mix includes currants, which are almost impossible to find here, so I've replaced them with a mixture of golden raisins and black seedless raisins. Likewise, classic British mixed spice isn't available at most American grocery stores, so instead, I use pumpkin spice blend, which is very similar to mixed spice, especially if you add a little bit of ground coriander.
Traditionally, bara brith is eaten on Saint David's Day in March as part of the feast of the patron saint of Wales. But as people start pulling out their fruitcake recipes for the holidays, I make this tea and fruit-filled loaf instead. It's a modern Christmas tradition that brings back fond memories of my family in Wales and connects me to my heritage. And it tastes a whole lot better, too.
Recipe: How to make bara brith
Makes: 1 loaf
Ingredients:
4 tea bags
1⅓ cups of dark brown sugar
3¼ cups of raisins (I use half golden raisins, half black seedless raisins)
Butter or baking spray for greasing
3 cups of self-rising flour
2 tsp of pumpkin spice plus additional nutmeg, ginger and/or coriander to taste
1 egg, beaten
Up to 3 tbsp of cold milk
Honey, for glazing
Preparation:
Boil 1¼ cups of water in a pot or pan. Remove from the heat and add tea bags to brew a strong black tea. Add brown sugar, mixing until it is dissolved. Add the dried fruit and cover. Let sit overnight or for at least six hours at room temperature.
The next day, preheat your oven to 350 F.
Line the bottom of a nine inch loaf pan with parchment paper. Use butter or baking spray to grease the sides of the pan.
To a large mixing bowl, add the flour, spices and beaten egg. Slowly add the fruit and tea mixture to the bowl. Stir with a fork or wooden spoon until a stiff dough forms. If the mixture is too stiff, add cold milk, one tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes together.
Place the dough in the prepared loaf tin and bake for one hour. Remove from oven and cover the bread loosely with a sheet of tin foil and return to oven to bake for another 30 minutes.
Take the bread out and let rest in the pan for five minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack.
While the bread is warm, but not hot, brush honey over the surface and let it melt.
To serve, slice the bread and serve warm. Spread with salted butter and enjoy with a hot cup of tea.
Reach the reporter at tirion.morris@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on Twitter at @tirionmorris, on Facebook at Tirion Rose and on Instagram at tirionrose.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Holiday baking recipe: How to make Welsh bara brith tea bread
