Fruit Bread

Its time for me to face reality. Summer is gone and Autumn is well and truly kicking in, the leaves are turning, darkness looms earlier and there is a very certain nip to the air. To most people these alone would be a fair indication of a change in the seasons, it would appear though that I'm quite good at turning a blind eye to these signs. My reality check came when I purchased our Christmas Advent calenders yesterday. I hear you cry "It's only September"! Of course you are right, it is way too early for things like this to be on the shelves but in my world this means Christmas is on its way and if Christmas is on its way then so is winter which, in turn, means I need to start enjoying Autumn! Just between you and me I can't wait for Christmas to come!

Naturally when it comes to this time of year my stomach turns to comfort food. I'm not going to lie to you, I make this recipe year round but when its dark outside and its time to cozy up, a slice of this still warm from the oven with some butter or marg melting over the top is the bees knees. I have been drooling all day at the anticipation of my first slice.

Fruit Bread

300g mixed dried fruit - I use sultanas, currants, raisins, dried cranberries and dried apricots

450ml hot tea

90g light brown sugar

1 lemon, zested

3 cups SR flour

1 tsp mixed spice

1 large egg

Place the fruit in a bowl, pour over the hot tea, cover with plastic wrap and set aside at room temp overnight.

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease a 10 x 25cm loaf pan.

Strain the fruit, reserving the liquid then combine with remaining ingredients. Gradually add the reserved liquid, stirring until a soft dropping consistency is reached. Pour into the pan and bake for 45-50 mins.

Meanwhile, make a sugar syrup: place 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water in a pan over low heat and stir to dissolve the sugar. Simmer for 10-15 mins. Brush the fruit loaf with syrup while still warm.

Set aside on a wire rack to coll, then slice and serve with butter.

Makes 1 loaf

Adapted from Australian Delicious Mag, April 2002 issue

A few points on this recipe - always, always, always remember to grease the pan. It has remarkable sticking properties otherwise! Also, the original recipe says to use Earl Grey tea but I make it with whatever flavour tea I have to hand, Scottish Breakfast Tea from the Edinburgh Tea and Coffee Company is my current tea of choice but I'm going to try using my favourite 'Tea Pig' flavour next time round (Chocolate Tea - defo worth a try if you haven't already, lovely cuppa!)

I make this is in two smaller pans rather than one large one. I find the top browns well before the middle is cooked in the larger pan, no big deal as a covering of foil once the desired level of goldeness has been reached solves the problem. We like the smaller pans though so we can have one for now and freeze the other for latter or pass it in to Jason's Mum - who has a particular soft spot for Fruit Bread - just reduce the cooking time. Doing it this way also eliminates the need for foil. The sugar syrup as made above is far too much for the bread whether it is made in a large pan or two dinky ones so I keep what is leftover in a jar in the fridge, it'll keep for ages that way.