Bara Brith(Speckled Bread)

This is a traditional Welsh tea bread, its made all over Wales, with slight regional variations, it was really aimed at using the left over dried fruit that would otherwise be thrown away. This is recipe that my grandmother and mother made, and its the one i use and make for my family, my children really love this sliced and thickly spread with butter. I normally end up making 2 so that its not all eaten in one sitting

Ingredients

330 ml	Black tea, warm
225 g	Mixed fruit
170 g	Self raising flour
170 g	Wholemeal flour
1 tsp	Baking powder
1 tsp	Mixed spice
55 g	Brown sugar
1	Egg, beaten

Directions

1. Put the dried fruit in a bowl,pour the tea over the fruit. Cover and set aside to soak overnight.
2. Preheat the oven to 160 C. Grease and line a 900g loaf tin. Sift the white and wholemeal flours, baking powder and spice into a bowl, tipping in any bran left in the sieve. Stir in the sugar.
3. Pour in the soaked dried fruit, scraping in all the liquid from the bowl, and add the beaten egg. Lightly mix the egg and fruit together, then stir in the dry ingredients until thoroughly combined. The mixture should be soft enough to drop easily off the spoon. Add 2 to 3 teaspoons more water/milk if needed.
4. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and spread it out evenly. Bake for about 1 1/4 hours or until the loaf is well risen and firm, cracked along the middle and browned on top. If the Bara Brith is becoming too brown, cover loosely with foil for the last 20 minutes of baking .
5. Leave to cool in the tin for about 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. This teabread tastes really good if it is left for a day before eating.