Ingredients
- 450g/1lb strong white flour
- 7g salt
- 10g dried yeast
- 75g/2½oz butter, softened
- 50g/1¾oz brown sugar
- 2 tsp mixed spice
- 350g/12oz mixed dried fruit such as dates, apricots, blueberries, sultanas
- 1 free-range egg
- 1 chai teabag
- 100ml milk
- oil
Method
- Place the fruit and teabag in a large bowl, pour over boiling water, and leave.
- Put the flour, yeast, sugar, salt and spice in a large mixing bowl. Add the beaten egg. Take your measuring jug of milk and add another 100ml of the liquid from the soaking fruit. Add more water to the fruit if needed.
- Bring the mixture together to form a dough. Knead on a lightly oiled work surface until smooth. Place back in the bowl, cover with oiled cling film and leave until doubled in size – at least one hour.
- Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/400F/Gas 6 and grease a 900g/2lb loaf tin. Drain the fruit in a sieve or colander for several minutes to get excess moisture out. Don’t forget to remove the teabag.
Knock back the dough, then add the fruit. Knead until evenly distributed, then shape it and fit it into the loaf tin. Cover again with oiled cling film and prove for a further 30 minutes. Remove the cling film and bake in the centre of the oven for 20 minutes.- Cover with aluminium foil and continue to bake for a further 25 minutes. Remove from the oven, turn it out of the tin and leave to cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes.
