Bara Brith – Traditional Welsh Bread

Since I have been living in Wales for a few months, I have attempted to do some baking. However, it hasn’t been easy for me!

I love to bake and back home, have an array of ingredients and tools at my fingertips. Her in Wales, I have to relearn everything.

Recipes are doing in grams or ounces where you have to get out a scale to measure your ingredients! No cups or teaspoons to be found!

Then, there is the flour! There are so many different types of flour here in the UK, (and they come in tiny packages) that I struggle to know what to use!

Needless to say, my baking experiences have been a bit of a disaster. I finally realized that I needed to find some UK recipes to bake, rather than trying to recreate what I make at home.

That’s when we discovered Bara Brith!

Bara Brith means speckled bread. It is a very traditional tea bread served here in Wales. In England, if you go for an afternoon tea, it will usually come with a scone, cream and jam. But in Wales, you can have your afternoon tea with bara brith!

We got a book form the library (that had measurements in cups!!) and decided to make it, and it was a huge success!

The bread is best served warm from the oven with butter.

1 1/3 Cups of mixed fruit
1 Cup hot strong tea
2 Cups self-raising flour *Just add 2 teaspoons of baking powder for each 1 cup all-purpose flour.
1 tsp all spice
2 Tbsp butter
8 Tbsp brown sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten

Soak the mixed fruit in the hot tea for a few hours or over night (until most of the liquid is absorbed)
Mix the dry ingredients together.
Add the mixed fruit.
Put into a loaf pan.
Bake 350 for about 45 minutes.