This is a homely old country tea bread recipe dating back to at least the 19th century England, when tea breads were prepared with leftover tea from the pot and local honey. Tea breads were enjoyed for tea time alongside an array of home-baked pies, sandwiches, and other tasty savouries.

Ingredients

The ingredients you will need are hot tea, self-raising flour, dried fruit, dried fruit peel, honey, butter, one egg, and a little salt. The topping uses walnuts, honey, and Demerara sugar although you can omit the nuts if preferred.

Country tea bread recipe

This country tea bread is deliciously moist, soft, and light. It is flavoured with honey as well as drizzled with honey, crunchy Demerara sugar, and a few crushed walnuts which toast beautifully in the oven. Although tea breads are usually buttered after they are sliced this tea bread doesn’t need extra butter as the lovely topping is enough. However, you can still lather some butter on or add a dollop of fruit jam for an extra special treat.

The farmhouse kitchen

I found this recipe in the old cook book – The Farmhouse Kitchen by Mary Norwak [first published 1975]. If you would like to read the original recipe then it can be found on page 107 of the 1991 edition.

Old British tea bread recipes are similar to cake but with a chewer outside and denser inside. Tea breads usually do not require much butter or margarine added to the recipe and generally contain less sugar compared to cake with frostings so a slice of home-baked tea bread can be a great cake alternative as it nicely satisfies any sweet cravings!

For another tea bread recipe do have a look at our easy Farmhouse Tea Loaf.

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Country Tea Bread

This is a homely old country tea bread recipe dating back to at least the English 19th century when tea breads were prepared with leftover tea from the pot and local honey, and enjoyed for tea time along with an array of home-baking, pies, sandwiches, and other tasty savouries.

Course Afternoon tea, Snack, Tea time

Cuisine British, English

Keyword cakes with honey, country tea bread, farmhouse recipes, old-fashioned recipes, tea bread

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 25 minutes minutes

Servings 10 -12 slices

Author Leigh

Equipment

• 1 Ib loaf pan
• parchment paper
• mixing bowl
• mixing spoon
• sieve
• small saucepan
• pastry brush

Ingredients

• 150 ml hot tea
• 200 g dried fruit mix
• 25 g dried fruit peel
• 100 g honey
• 1 medium egg, beaten
• 225 g self-raising flour
• 1 pinch salt
• 25 g butter, melted or a margarine suitable for baking

Topping:

• 2 tbsp honey
• 25 g walnuts, broken
• 7 g Demerara sugar

Instructions

The evening before baking:

• Add the dried fruit mix, dried fruit peel, honey, and hot tea into a mixing bowl. Stir well, pop a lid over the bowl and leave until the next day.
  150 ml hot tea, 200 g dried fruit mix, 25 g dried fruit peel, 100 g honey

Prepare the tea bread:

• Preheat the oven to 180℃, 350℃, or Gas mark 4.
• Prepare the loaf pan by greasing it with some extra butter. Line the pan with parchment paper.
• Stir the egg through the soaked dried fruit mix.
  1 medium egg, beaten
• Next, sift in the flour and stir.
  225 g self-raising flour
• Next, stir through the salt and melted butter.
  1 pinch salt, 25 g butter, melted
• Scoop the tea bread mixture into the prepared loaf pan and level down the surface.
• Bake on the middle shelf for 50 minutes.
• While the tea bread is baking prepare the topping so that it is ready to add to the tea bread. If your honey is very thick gently melt it in a small saucepan so that it becomes runny.

Add the topping:

• After 50 minutes remove the tea bread from the oven. Brush the surface with honey keeping some honey behind for the drizzle.
• Next, sprinkle the broken walnuts over the surface as well as the Demerara sugar. Finish off by drizzling over the rest of the honey.
  2 tbsp honey, 25 g walnuts, broken, 7 g Demerara sugar
• Pop the tea bread back into the oven and continue baking for 20 minutes. The topping will meld into the tea bread beautifully and the walnuts will be sweet and toasted.

Finish baking:

• Once baked, leave the tea bread in the loaf pan for 10 minutes or so before carefully removing on to a cooling rack.
• Once cool the tea bread can be sliced and spread with butter or fruit jam if liked.

Notes

1. Store the tea bread wrapped in parchment paper and kitchen foil and keep in a cake tin for up to a week.
2. Refresh stale slices of tea bread by popping into a warm oven for a few minutes.
3. A margarine suitable for baking or baking block can be used instead of butter.
4. The walnuts can be replaced with a different nut.
5. You can use any type of tea that you like. Leftover tea is ideal.
6. Instead of dried fruit peel you can use glacé cherries.
7. Instead of dried fruit mix you can use raisins or sultanas.
8. If liked, add 1-2 teaspoons of warm spices such as ground cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, allspice, mixed spice, apple pie or pumpkin pie spice mix. Although for some spices such as cloves and nutmeg it’s best to add a few pinches rather than teaspoonfuls as these spices are very flavourful- add another spice such as cinnamon to bulk those out.

Do let us know if you bake this country tea bread as we love seeing old recipes come alive again!