Bara Brith

My great grandmother was from a Welsh coal-mining family. They moved to Jim Thorpe, PA in search of a better life, and her descendants migrated west until they reached California. My mother had the recipe for this tea bread on a scrap of paper in her grandmother's handwriting, and she would often bake it for us kids.

Ingredients

1 pound dried fruit

1 pint cold, strong black tea

12 ounces brown sugar

4 cups unbleached flour

5 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon each allspice, cinnamon and ground cloves

1 extra large egg

Method

Soak the fruit in the tea overnight in a large bowl. Next day mix the sugar and spices into it. Add the egg and mix well. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt, and incorporate gently with a wooden spoon.

Pour the mixture into a large, well greased bread or cake tin. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 F for 1 1/2 hours. Turn out and allow to cool. 

Serve spread thickly with salted butter or slices of cheese. It is traditional to serve Bara Brith with Caerphilly cheese, a saltier, crumblier version of Cheddar, which you can sometimes pick up at stores such as Dean & Deluca and Whole Foods.