My Grandad passed away before I was born, and in the last few years I’ve lost my remaining 3 grandparents. My husband has also lost both his nans in recent years. And I’m finding myself getting more attached to those little things they all left behind. The photos we have of them are, of course, so important. But what I’m really happy to have are the scraps of paper with their handwritten recipes on. Seeing that familiar writing brings all sorts of memories rushing back. And there is something special about the idea of cooking a recipe that they used to make. It feels almost like carrying on a part of them.
Bara brith literally means ‘speckled bread’ and is a cake/bread made with dried fruit, which explains the name! It’s one of the things, like welsh cakes, that you always see in the shops in Wales, but that I’d never actually had before. Steve had been on at me for ages to make it though, so I thought it was time to grab his Nan’s recipe and give it a go!
So, on with the recipe!
Ingredients:
- 250g mixed dried fruit
- 110g butter
- 150g brown sugar
- 240ml milk
- 1/2 teaspoon bicarb
- 340g Self raising flour
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon mixed spice
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
What you do:
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
- Melt the butter, sugar, milk, fruit and bicarb in a large pan.
- Bring to the boil and simmer for 2 minutes.
- Cool.
- Add beaten eggs and flour and mix well.
- Tip mixture into a greased/lined loaf tin and cook for 1 hour at 180.
A few things to note:
- Top the cake with a sprinkle of brown sugar before you put it in the over for a nice crunchy finish!
- Keep an eye on the cake once it’s in the oven. If it looks like it’s starting to brown too quickly then you can cover it with some foil.
- If you want you can soak the dried fruit for a bit (or overnight if you fancy) in a mug’s worth of black tea before making the bara brith.
I have a couple of recipes from my side of the family that I want to work my way through, so keep a look out for Granny’s chocolate cake in the future!
Do you have a treasured family recipe? I’d love to know what it is!
All of our grandparents are sadly no longer with us either and I so wish we had more of my nans recipes written down, I have a few cookbooks she had with notes scribbled in them, but considering she was a cake maker/baker for years, we have so few of her recipes.
This sounds lovely and I’m definitely going to make this as my other half isn’t a big cake fan, but does love these kinds of fruit cakes and I can put them in with his packed lunch. The old recipes are always the best, so thanks to Nana Marge for this one 😉
#foodpornthursdays
It’s a shame isn’t it, that we don’t always think to gather these kind of things while our loved ones are still with us. Hope you like this recipe if you do make it! x
Both My & my husband’s grandparents sadly left us many years ago. My maternal grandma was a fantastic baker (I think it was she who planted that baking seed in me), but many of her fabulous recipes went with her. She had one or 2 small cook books, which my mum & I have. I seem to think many of that generation tended to hold the recipes in their head and seldom write them down. Sadly.
Your Bara Brith looks scrummy. I’ve only made one from one of the many GBBO cook books, which was lovely. But I’m going to save your recipe and try that.
#FoodPornThusrday
Angela x
I think you might be right, that generation most likely did know their favourite recipes off by heart. x
Sounds like my kind of bread! Love the tip to put brown sugar on the top – I’m going to try that with my brown bread recipe too! It’s so lovely to have hand written notes & keepsakes from loved ones. Thanks so much for sharing your memories & family recipe with #foodpornthursdays x
I do love the brown sugar on top, it’s what I do with my banana bread too! x
I love a bara brith slice with a cup of tea. This looks delicious!
It is just right with a cup of tea isn’t it! x