My first recipe for the New Year! Happy New Year to all my readers! And, it’s a fabulous tea time cake recipe for Cranberry, Mincemeat & Ginger Tea Loaf
A Simple Twelfth Night Cake using Festive Leftovers
My first recipe for the New Year! Happy New Year to all my readers! And, it’s a fabulous tea time cake recipe for Cranberry, Mincemeat & Ginger Tea Loaf.
A beautifully moist, tea loaf that is warmly spiced with ginger, and is studded with plump, fresh cranberries, as well as homemade mincemeat.
Today’s recipe was created with leftover cranberries and mincemeat from Christmas……although, there’s no such thing as leftover mincemeat in our house, as we all love it 365 days a year!
I added ground ginger for a touch of aromatic warmth – plus it really marries well with the other ingredients.
A tea loaf is a cake. or should say a bake, that I make regularly. It’s perfect with an afternoon cuppa, and slices easily.
This Cranberry, Mincemeat & Ginger Tea Loaf will keep fresh in an airtight tin for at least a week. Serve it for a Sunday Tea Tray Supper, for elevenses, or for afternoon tea.
If you don’t have any fresh cranberries, add chopped dried apricots, sultanas or glace cherries.
Walnuts (or pecans) would also add a delicious nuttiness and texture to this tea loaf. And, I can confirm that cheese is DELICIOUS when served with it, similar to Christmas cake.
I hope you enjoy my first recipe of the New Year, as much as we did when I made this – I have lots more new recipes up my sleeve, so pleaae do keep popping back to see what I’m making and baking.
Happy New Year – may 2024 be kind to you, Karen
Tea Loaf Recipes
Recipe for Cranberry, Mincemeat & Ginger Tea Loaf
Cranberry, Mincemeat & Ginger Tea Loaf
My first recipe for the New Year! Happy New Year to all my readers! And, it's a fabulous tea time cake recipe for Cranberry, Mincemeat & Ginger Tea Loaf.
A beautifully moist, tea loaf that is warmly spiced with ginger, and is studded with plump, fresh cranberries, as well as homemade mincemeat.
Today's recipe was created with leftover cranberries and mincemeat from Christmas......although, there's no such thing as leftover mincemeat in our house, as we all love it 365 days a year!
I added ground ginger for a touch of aromatic warmth - plus it really marries well with the other ingredients.
A tea loaf is a cake. or should say a bake, that I make regularly. It's perfect with an afternoon cuppa, and slices easily.
This Cranberry, Mincemeat & Ginger Tea Loaf will keep fresh in an airtight tin for at least a week. Serve it for a Sunday Tea Tray Supper, for elevenses, or for afternoon tea.
If you don't have any fresh cranberries, add chopped dried apricots, sultanas or glace cherries.
Walnuts (or pecans) would also add a delicious nuttiness and texture to this tea loaf. And, I can confirm that cheese is DELICIOUS when served with it, similar to Christmas cake.
I hope you enjoy my first recipe of the New Year, as much as we did when I made this - I have lots more new recipes up my sleeve, so pleaae do keep popping back to see what I'm making and baking.
Happy New Year - may 2024 be kind to you, Karen
Ingredients
- 300g (12oz) SR Flour
- 1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 100g (4oz) margarine or butter
- 100g (4oz) dark soft brown sugar
- 125g (5oz) mincemeat (homemade is best)
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 3 x 15ml spoons (3 tablespoons) milk
- 80g (3oz) whole fresh cranberries
Instructions
1. Mix flour, bicarbonate of soda and ground ginger together. Rub in the margarine or butter then stir in the sugar.
2. Mix in the mincemeat, egg and milk to make a soft, droppable cake batter.
3. Add the cranberries and mix well.
4. Spoon the mixture into a well greased and lined 900g (2lb) loaf tin.
5. Bake for about 1hr at 160C/325F/Gas mark 3 until well risen and firm.
6. Turn out of the tin once the loaf is cool. Serve in slices.
Notes
Keeps well in a tin for up to a week.
Not suitable for freezing.
If you don't have any fresh cranberries, add chopped dried apricots, sultanas or glace cherries.
Walnuts (or pecans) would also add a delicious nuttiness and texture to this tea loaf. And, I can confirm that cheese is DELICIOUS when served with it, similar to Christmas cake.
Nutrition Information
Yield 12 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 58Total Fat 1gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 1gCholesterol 18mgSodium 40mgCarbohydrates 9gFiber 1gSugar 1gProtein 2g
In Memory of Nina
On the second day of the 2024, I had to take my beloved Burmese cat to the vets, it was her last journey. I have shared below, for your information, the symptoms of CKD (Chronic Kidney Disease) along with my thoughts – I hope it will help some of you with feline friends, Karen
Nina 24/04/2011 – 02/01/2024
Fly high little one…..my Nina Beaner Cat, my friend and companion for 10yrs.
Taken too soon and suddenly by the silent killer, CKD (chronic kidney disease), such a cruel end to your life, where you lost half your body weight in just 4 weeks.
You were a kind and beautiful cat who had a bad start in life, but you certainly lived your best life when we adopted you.
My only solace is that your friend and sister cat, Cherie Berry Cat, is still here, although she’s already missing you.
If there’s one lasting legacy I can share about your life, it’s this:
1. Try to adopt, don’t shop, your entry into this world on a kitten farm, scarred you for most of your life. But we finally won your love and trust. If you do want a pedigree cat or dog, check out the breeders 1000% before buying.
2. CKD is the silent killer – as soon as the worst symptoms are evident, it’s usually stage 4, and too late. Here are the signs to watch out for:
In the early stages of CKD, there may be very few signs. The symptoms progress as kidney function declines and the cat starts to suffer more consequences of this. The commonly seen symptoms are:
• Increased thirst
• Increased urine production
• Reduced appetite
• Gradual weight loss due to poor appetite and loss of protein in the urine
• Vomiting due to toxin buildup in the system
• Lethargy/sleeping more
• Weakness due to muscle wastage, anaemia and low blood potassium
• Dehydration due to excess water loss into the urine
• Bad breath (halitosis) — Due to toxin build-up and oral and gastric ulceration
3. Try to offer your feline friends wet and dry food, as 100% dry food, unless renal friendly, can cause kidney problems.
4. It’s worth asking for a blood test in older cats (8hrs+) to check how their kidneys are functioning, as there are kidney supplements, food and medicine that works very successfully with early stages of kidney disease.
Your end was my last unselfish act of love for you…..it was hard, but to see you struggling with incontinence, dramatic weight loss and your reduced appetite, was as heartbreaking as the decision I had to make.
However, we were both with you until the end, and the most humbling part was you still purred when I stroked you and talked to you – right until the end. Then you just slipped away, quietly and peacefully, which was all I wanted.
You will always remain our hearts little one, and we were privileged to have shared part of our lives with you, you were elegant, shy yet curious and a very enigmatic cat.
makanmakan says
Perfectly moist tea bread warmly spiced with ginger, and topped with plump fresh cranberries, and homemade mincemeat. I really like it, and I look forward to hearing from you next. Thank you for the information about the most popular foods and culinary delights this year.
Karen Burns-Booth says
Thank you for your feedback 🙂
Deborah says
I made the tea loaf and it’s rather delicious! The mincemeat gives it a flavoursome fruity texture. Although I didn’t have any homemade I used up Christmas store bought mincemeat that had a boozy hit! Couldn’t find any fresh cranberries so used dried and soaked in orange juice for several hours to rehydrate and plump up! Although good I do recommend using fresh as they would give the tea loaf extra glory. For extra crunch and flavour added 65g of roughly chopped toasted pecans which added to the deliciousness of the loaf! Baked in a fan oven and it was ready in 45 minutes. If you’re wondering whether or not to make don’t hesitate bake it! I’m sure you will adore. Thank you for posting Karen. Lovely to do so in memory of Nina too.