GBBO 2017 Week 3 - Bara Brith Inspired Teacakes

It was bread week on the Great British Bake Off this week - I've had a bit of a love/hate relationship with baking bread - sometimes the dough just doesn't behave like I'd expect, or the tastes don't quite live up to expectations. I've had a few successes, like my pesto and feta swirl bread, but you may have spotted most of my recipes aren't yeasty. My partner however, is amazing at baking bread and is currently writing a guest post about this week's technical challenge.

I decided to have a go at the showstopper challenge, which were teacakes. When I was little, I remember going to my local market with my brothers and sisters, and eating toasted current teacakes with butter. Because of this and my inexperience with bread, I was pretty eager to attempt to master them.

None of the flavours the bakers in the tent took my fancy (way too many had cardamom in), so I decided to do a take on the welsh fruity bread known as bara brith. This bread contains mixed dried fruit (including raisins, sultanas and mixed peel), and is spiced with cinnamon, ginger and mixed spice. I used these elements in the teacake, to make a really tasty bun :)

After baking, I went a little away from my bara brith theme and glazed the teacakes with an orange and cinnamon glaze. This gave them a really lovely shine and added another dimension of flavour.

These are probably the most technically-correct bread I've ever made, and they really do taste fab. So give them a go - they're brilliant as an alternative to toast or a mid-morning snack. I'll definitely be making them again :)

This recipe makes 6 large teacakes, but double up the recipe if you want more.

Ingredients:

For the soaked fruit:

• 300g (2 cups) mixed dried fruit (I bought a blend of raisins, sultanas and candied mixed peel)
• 75ml (1/3 cup) strong black tea (I brewed 2 teabags in a cup of water for 5 minutes)

For the dough:

• 375g (2 & 1/2 cups) strong white bread flour
• 1 sachet (7g) fast-action dried yeast
• 3.5g (2/3 tsp) salt
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground mixed spice
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 45g (1/4 cup) light soft brown sugar
• Finely grated zest of one orange
• 35g (1/4 cup) butter, softened
• 225ml (around 1 cup) tepid water
• 1 medium egg, to glaze

For the glaze:

• Juice of 2 oranges (100ml)
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 50g (1/4 cup) caster sugar

Method:

1. Pour the mixed dried fruit into a mixing bowl and tip over the strong tea. Stir briefly then cover. Leave for at least one hour for the dried fruit to plump up. For the best results leave them overnight, but this isn't essential.

2. Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl. Add the salt, orange zest, ground cinnamon, mixed spice, ginger and crumble the brown sugar into the bowl (as brown sugar tends to clump). Stir in to evenly combine, then sprinkle over the yeast. Stir in.

3. Break the butter into small (1cm) cubes, then tip into the bowl. Use your hands to rub the butter into the flour. When you can no longer see any butter, make a well in the centre of the flour and tip in 3/4 of the water. Bring the mixture together with your hands to make a soft, slightly sticky dough.

4. Lightly oil a work surface and tip the dough onto the surface. Knead for 10 minutes, until the dough is really smooth and elastic. If you prod the dough it should spring right back. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and leave in a warm place for at least one hour, until doubled in size. 

5. Drain the dried fruit to remove excess liquid. Grease and line two baking trays with baking parchment.

6. Once the dough is ready, tip out of the bowl onto a lightly oiled surface. Knock any air out of the dough by pressing the dough down into a large rectangle. Scatter over the drained dried fruit then gently bring the dough over the fruit and knead until evenly incorporated.

7. The dough may have become stickier by this point due to the dried fruit addition.. If it does, sprinkle over a few tablespoons of flour and work in. Evenly divide the dough into 6 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, then flatten slightly with the palm of your hand into a rough circle. Place on the prepared baking trays, leaving plenty of space between each teacake. Cover with clingfilm and leave for 45 minutes, or until it has doubled in size.

8. Remove the clingfilm and use a pastry brush to brush the top of each teacake with the beaten egg. Be careful not to let the egg wash drip down the sides of the teacake as this will inhibit it's rise. Bake the teacakes for 18-20 minutes, until the tops are golden, and if you flip a teacake over, it sounds hollow when tapped. 

9. Whilst baking, prepare the glaze by heating the orange juice, sugar and cinnamon syrup together for around 5 minutes, until the liquid has reduced by half.

10. Once the teacakes are out of the oven, brush over the glaze and leave to cool.

11. Enjoy on their own or with a little butter :)