Wartime tea loaf
Makes: 12 slices
Prep time: 30Total time: 
Recipe photograph by Tara Fisher
Wartime tea loaf
Inspired by wartime cooks who had to get creative, this 'war cake' is an eggless loaf loaded with dried fruit and spice. We’ve soaked our fruit in a smoky tea to add depth of flavour, then served it with a cheeky rum syrup!
Makes: 12 slices
Prep time: 30Total time: 
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Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
423Kcal
Fat
17gr
Saturates
11gr
Carbs
61gr
Sugars
45gr
Fibre
2gr
Protein
4gr
Salt
0.3gr
Sarah Akhurst
Our Food Director Sarah is a food obsessive, and spends most of her time scoping out the latest food trends, experimenting in her own kitchen, or making her family wait to eat while she photographs every dinner she makes for the 'gram! A complete Middle Eastern food junkie, she is never far from a good shawarma marinade, a pinch of Aleppo chilli or a sprig of dill
See more of Sarah Akhurst’s recipes
Sarah Akhurst
Our Food Director Sarah is a food obsessive, and spends most of her time scoping out the latest food trends, experimenting in her own kitchen, or making her family wait to eat while she photographs every dinner she makes for the 'gram! A complete Middle Eastern food junkie, she is never far from a good shawarma marinade, a pinch of Aleppo chilli or a sprig of dill
See more of Sarah Akhurst’s recipes
Ingredients
- 2 Lapsang Souchong tea bags
- 350g mixed dried fruit (we used dried figs, apricots, cherries, prunes)
- 200g light brown sugar
- 75g soft butter
- 250g plain flour
- 1 heaped tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 3 cardamom pods, seeds crushed
- 1 tsp ground mixed spice
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
For the rum syrup, optional
- 100g caster sugar
- 3 tbsp dark rum
To serve, optional
- 150ml double cream
- 125g mascarpone
- 1 tbsp icing sugar
Step by step
Get ahead
The cake keeps in an airtight container for up to 1 week; it will become more moist and dense over time.
- Put the tea bags in a measuring jug, add 350ml boiling water and leave to steep for a couple of minutes. Put the dried fruit in a large bowl and pour in the tea, discarding the bags. Leave the fruit to infuse for a minimum of 4 hours, preferably overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas 4. Grease and line a 900g loaf tin, measuring about 20cm x 9cm on the base. Beat together the sugar and butter, then stir through the tea-soaked fruit mix, including any liquid. Sift in the flour, baking powder and spices, then fold this into the fruit mix. Mix until well combined, then transfer to a tin. Bake in the oven for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the rum syrup, put the caster sugar in a pan with 100ml water and heat gently until the sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil then simmer for 6-8 minutes, until you have a syrup-like consistency. Remove from the heat and stir through the rum.
- Whisk together the double cream, mascarpone and icing sugar to soft peaks. Serve the tea loaf in slices, with a dollop of cream and a drizzle of the rum syrup.
