I have made this cake, a variation of St Delia's iconic Irish Tea Bread, three times so far. And each time it's been slightly different. The first time I made it, I heavily spiced it with mixed spice and cinnamon as the original batter mix was a bit insipid for me. The second time I made it was called the Baker's Edition and it was rich, moist and succulent due to soaking in orange juice. Inspired by the Baker's Edition, my boyfriend requested an extra special Boyfriend Edition cake. And this is it. It uses roobios tea and whisky as soaking fluids as he introduced me to roobios which I now adore, and we both love whisky. It's the lightest in texture and taste of the three I have made, and filled with lurve. Enjoy :)
For two 2lb loaves you need:
225g sultanas
225g raisins
225g currants
125g chopped glace ginger
100g glace cherries
100g chopped candied peel
225g demerara sugar
275ml strongly brewed roobios tea
75ml whisky
1 large egg, lightly beaten
450g self raising flour
1/2 nutmeg, freshly grated
2 tbsp vanilla sugar
Begin this 24 hours before you want to make it. In to a large bowl place everything apart from the egg and flour. Mix well and leave to steep in a cool place, stirring once or twice during this period. The next day, pre-heat an oven to 170 degrees and line two loaf tins. Add the beaten egg to the fruit mixture and combine thoroughly. Then add the flour and mix well. Don't forget to add lots of love at this stage too ;-)
Scrape into the tins. Grate the nutmeg over the top of the unbaked cakes, and then sprinkle over the sugar. Bake for about 90 mins or until it's risen, golden brown and cooked all the way through. Leave to cool. The cake can be eaten immediately, but it's better if left to mature and served either cold, or toasted, with lashings of butter. Oh and a mug of strong tea. Roobios, natch ;-)
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