Bara Brith

A traditional Welsh bara brith bread recipe flavored with black tea, dried fruit, brown sugar, and mixed spice.

What Is Bara Brith?

Bara brith is a traditional Welsh tea bread. The name means “speckled bread” in Welsh (bara = bread + brith = speckled), with the dried fruit and bits of citrus peel dotted throughout the bread serving as the “speckles.”

I first tasted bara brith after moving to the UK in 2019, and soon learned how to make it, along with other classic British bakes. Despite its reputation as a French pastry school, my studies at Le Cordon Bleu London included a module on British baking, and I also spent some time at Bread Ahead Bakery learning traditional bakes like Welsh cakes and (English) muffins. I enjoy making all of these, but Bara brith remains a favorite.

Think of bara brith as a fruit-based loaf cake. (For a US comparison, I’d place it in the “sweet bread” or “quick bread” category, along with banana bread, gingerbread, or pumpkin bread.) It also bears some resemblence to other dried fruit breads, such as pannetone from Italy, and German stollen.

Although early bara brith recipes often contained yeast as a raising agent, most modern versions use self-rising flour or baking powder instead. The batter includes dried fruit (usually some combination of raisins, currants, and sultanas, along with bits of dried citrus peel) soaked overnight in black tea, then combined with egg, flour, brown sugar, and mixed spice, a ground spice blend popular in British recipes.

Bara brith dates back centuries, but the modern version rose to prominence in the 1800s, when tea became affordable and readily accessible throughout the UK. While not as popular as it once was (in 2006, the UK supermarket chain Morrison’s removed Bara Brith from the shelves at 19 of its Welsh stores, citing dwindling sales numbers) bara brith remains a staple in the British baking repertoire.

This simple fruit bread makes a wonderful addition to any tea-time spread. And like all bara brith, it’s best served sliced, slathered in a thick layer of salted butter and accompanied by a cup of strong, hot black tea.

Bara Brith Recipe Ingredients

• Tea Bags – Black tea, or English Breakfast. Use a quality British brand, like Yorkshire, Twinings, or PG Tips. Skip Lipton or similar American brands, which aren’t strong enough to impart the tea flavor into the dried fruit.
• Boiling Water – Boiled in an electric kettle, or a tea kettle on the stovetop.
• Dried Mixed Fruit -In the UK, supermarkets sell a bagged dried fruit mix containing a blend of raisins, sultanas, currants, and candied mixed citrus peel. In the US, you can purchase the Waitrose version on Amazon. Or, substitute an equal quantity of raisins, sultanas (golden raisins) and currants, in any combination you’d like.
• Dark Brown Sugar – I prefer the more pronounced caramel notes of dark brown sugar, but you can substitute light brown sugar or muscovado sugar instead.
• Self-Rising Flour – Self-rising flour (self-raising flour) is a pre-mixed blend of flour, baking powder, and salt, commonly used for making baked goods without the need for additional leavening agents. You’ll often find it listed as an ingredient in British loaf recipes, like lemon drizzle cake and this bara brith.
• Mixed Spice – Mixed spice is a ground spice blend used in many British recipes, like Christmas puddings and mince pies. You can purchase mixed spice on Amazon, or you can replace it with: 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, and a pinch of ground cloves. You can also make your own mixed spice blend to keep in the cabinet.
  
• Fine Sea Salt  – Opt for fine Welsh sea salt if you have it, but any fine sea salt will work.
• Egg – You’ll need one large egg, lightly beaten and at room temperature.
• Nonstick Spray – Use nonstick spray to grease the loaf tin and parchment. Don’t skimp on the spray, or you might have trouble removing the baked bread from the tin.

Soaking the Fruit

Soaking rehydrates and imparts black tea flavor into the fruit, which in turn flavors the bread.

To soak, add the tea bags (see my notes on brands and brews, above) to a medium bowl. Cover the bags with boiling water. Allow the tea to steep for 5 minutes, then use a slotted spoon to remove the bags. Whisk in the dark brown sugar, then stir in the dried mixed fruit:

Dried fruit soaking inblack tea

After cooling, cover the bowl tightly with clingfilm/plastic wrap and refrigerate it overnight. By the next morning, your dried fruit should look full and plump, with most of the liquid absorbed:

Tools and Equipment for Making Welsh Bara Brith

To make this Bara brith recipe, I recommend having a few basic tools on hand:

• Loaf Tin – You’ll need a standard-sized (not mini) loaf tin. Mine measures about 5 x 9 inches.
• Parchment – Lining with parchment (and allowing an overhang on both of the longer sides) creates “handles” which make it much easier to lift the bara brith from the loaf tin after baking.
• Cake Tester – It’s important not to underbake the loaf, or it will be dense in the middle. Test periodically, starting around the 50-minute mark, with a cake tester like this one, until it comes out clean. If you don’t have a cake tester, test the loaf with a toothpick (cocktail stick) or a wooden skewer instead.
• Electric Kettle – For boiling water to soak the dried fruit. (If you don’t already own an electric kettle, this recipe makes the perfect excuse to buy one—I actually have several!)
• Serrated Knife – Use a serrated knife (knife with a saw-toothed edge) to slice the baked and cooled bara brith. If you attempt to slice with a chef’s knife, you’ll risk jagged, crumbly pieces rather than thick, even slices.

How to Enjoy Bara Brith

You can enjoy bara brith at breakfast or tea time. Serve sliced, spread with a thick layer of salted butter and accompanied by a cup of strong, hot black tea.

Make-Ahead and Storage Suggestions

Plan ahead. Before you can prepare the batter, you’ll need to soak the dried fruit in tea overnight. Start the soaking process at least 24 hours (or up to 48 hours) before you plan to bake.

Cool completely. After baking, I recommend cooling in the tin for at least two to three hours—until completely cool, or just barely warm to the touch. Cooling prevents the bread from breaking or crumbling as you lift it from the tin.

To store. Place leftover bara brith in an airtight container, or wrap in aluminum foil. Store at room temperature for up to 5 days.

To freeze. Wrap baked and cooled bara brith in a layer of clingfilm/plastic wrap followed by a layer of aluminum foil and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature.

Other British recipes you might enjoy:

Lemon Posset
Eton Mess
Clotted Cream Fudge
Bourbon Biscuits

And if you do make these, or any of my recipes, don’t forget to tag me @bastecutfold or use the hashtag #bastecutfold on Instagram. I always love to see what you’re making!

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