This week I have another recipe from my 2014 food predictions list and its one I am really excited to share with you, Chai Tea Fruit Loaf! This lovely fragrant tea loaf was wonderful fresh out of the oven and lovely the next morning as toast for breakfast and it made an amazing afternoon pick-me-up! From the moment it came out of the oven in the morning I couldn’t stop going back to it all day and into most of the evening. I had to force myself to keep some for breakfast the next day 😉















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Chai Tea & Fruit















In this version of the loaf I am sharing with you today I used my Homemade Chai Tea Mix to flavour the fruit with, traditionally it is made with good old fashioned English Breakfast Tea and it is a lovely combination, and in the past, I have even used Earl Grey Tea to flavour it. I just fancied spicing it up with a little chai tea and it really worked a treat.















Proving

Like a lot of bread, this one does require a double proving, but this little tea loaf is worth the extra effort.















As with most loaves that have inclusions you don’t add the fruit until after the first proving. If you add it straight away then it inhibits a lot of the good work the yeast would normally do, it won’t harm the flavour but it will harm the texture.















Tea as a flavour

A little research is showing that tea has become something of a celebrity in the flavour world at the moment, Starbucks is claiming tea sales have rocketed and more and more chefs are using the humble leaf as a flavouring agent for fish, meats and desserts.















I find this funny as in the UK tea has always been used in cakes and bread to add flavour, for many its a really old-fashioned thing to see. I remember as a kid seeing tea loaves in tea shops being sold by the slice with a little butter and jam to go with it.















It’s nice to see it coming back into fashion again it really is a lovely addition to cakes and loaves.















Recipe: