I baked a tea loaf this weekend! It is the level of excitement that I have in my life right now and one of my identified ‘replenishing’ activities.

I’m a big fan of tea loaves, easy to make and tasty to eat. I found a recipe on-line, as I always do, and found an excuse to use my NHS-gifted tea bags.

Interestingly I did create my own tea loaf recipe a number of years ago but I did not have any Earl Grey tea or an orange. Yeah…

So I made my loaf, over two days and it was well worth the wait.

It’s quite sweet and goes well with a cup lemon and ginger tea, which is my brew of choice at the moment. I’ll be honest, it was just slightly on the dry side, only slightly though! I left it in the oven for a little longer as it was not completely cooked after the specified instruction time or maybe it’s my oven, which I realise now over a decade old. I’ll make a few alterations next time or slather the slices with butter!

Dry or not it was still an enjoyable eating experience. I found just stopping to sit, eat, chew and sip, quite restful. It is/was such a simple thing but much needed. I have to continue to remind myself to stop and enjoy the here and now. I took a few slices with me to work on the last day I was in (Monday) but found that I wolfed down both slices before I’d finished the reading the notes of the first patient. Not so much mindful and mindless…

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup of mixed dried fruit
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 cup raw sugar*
• 1/2 tbsp of bicarbonate soda
• 1 cup cold black Nerada tea (for variation you could substitute Chai or Earl Grey tea)
• 1 tbsp golden syrup
• 2 cups self-raising flour
• Extra raw sugar, to sprinkle

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Put the fruit, sugar and bicarb soda in a large bowl, then
   pour over the cold Nerada tea. Cover and stand overnight, in a cool, dry place.
2. Next day, heat oven to 180°C. Lightly grease a 7cm-deep,
   11x21cm loaf tin. Sprinkle the sides and base with the extra raw sugar. This
   makes the cake easier to get out and gives an extra crunch to the exterior.
3. Stir the golden syrup and self-raising flour into the fruit
   mixture and mix well. The dough will be quite stiff, but this is okay.
4. Transfer mixture into a prepared loaf tin and smooth the
   top. Optional – sprinkle a little extra sugar on top for texture and
   appearance.
5. Bake for 40 – 45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the
   middle comes out really clean. (I undercooked the cake the first time.) Set it
   aside to cool for five minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool
   completely.

*I used coconut sugar.