Fruited Date & Walnut Tea Loaf. This delightful traditional style tea loaf is packed with dates, walnuts, mixed fruit and peel.
A Delightful Fat-Free and Low Sugar Tea Loaf for Sunday Tea Time
It’s Saturday, a day of baking and relaxing by the fire, well it IS a cold January day. And, I have been washing some of my “food photography props” that I have arranged on an old dresser, as they get so dusty with a log fire.
I cannot think of a nicer recipe to share with all my readers this Saturday than this easy, and old-fashioned lightly spiced fruit loaf.
The recipe for Fruited Date & Walnut Tea Loaf was given to my grandmother, when she lived in rural Northumberland, by a local farmer’s wife; she said she got the recipe from The Farmhouse Cookery Book.
This is a low-sugar and fat-free tea loaf. It has dates and walnuts added, with mixed spice and is studded with plump dried fruit and peel.
It is FABULOUS when served with a liberal amount of butter, and a piece of crumbly Wensleydale cheese, a classic combination.
As I mentioned above, there is no fat in it, and the sweetness comes from just 50g/2ozs of sugar and the natural sweetness of dates and dried fruit.
I hope that you try the recipe, which I have posted below, and do let me know if you bake it.
I made mine yesterday and as soon as it was cold I popped it into an airtight tin, as so often happens with these types of tea loaves, it gets better as it ages.
Serve it as part of an afternoon tea, school (or office) lunch box, for elevenses or for a Sunday tea tray supper.
Baking Notes
- Add other dried fruit such as apricots, cranberries, cherries etc.
- If the fruit is very dry, you can soak it in hot tea before using it. In place of of the milk, add the tea instead.
- If the fruit is very dry, you can soak it in hot tea before using it. In place of of the milk, add the tea instead.
- Add chopped hazelnuts or almonds instead if you wish.
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Recipe for Fruited Date & Walnut Tea Loaf
Fruited Date & Walnut Tea Loaf
Fruited Date & Walnut Tea Loaf (Fat free and low sugar)
This delightful traditional style tea loaf is packed with dates, walnuts, mixed fruit and peel, but is much lighter in texture, fat and sugar than normal tea loaf recipes.
There is no fat in it, and the sweetness comes from just 50g/2ozs of sugar and the natural sweetness of dates and dried fruit.
Serve it as part of an afternoon tea, school (or office) lunch box, for elevenses or for a Sunday tea tray supper.
The recipe is a much adapted one from The Farmhouse Cookery Book.
We all love this when served with a slice of cheese too!
Ingredients
- 50g/2ozs chopped walnuts
- 50g/2ozs chopped pitted dates
- 125g/4ozs dried mixed fruit
- 25g/1oz candied peel
- 50g/2ozs brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, beaten with 150ml/1/4 pint milk
- 225g/8ozs SR flour
- 1 teaspoon mixed spice
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
1. Grease and line a 900g/2 lb loaf tin or 2 x 450g/1lb loaf tins. Preheat oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
2. Place all the ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix well until everything is amalgamated.
3. Spoon or pour the cake batter into the prepared tin/s.
4. Bake for 1hr, reducing the temperature to 160C/325F/Gas 3 for the last 10 to 15 minutes.
5. Turn out onto wire rack to cool.
6. Serve sliced and buttered.
7. Freezes well.
Notes
Add other dried fruit such as apricots, cranberries, cherries etc.
If the fruit is very dry, you can soak it in hot tea before using it. In place of of the milk, add the tea instead.
The nuts can be omitted, just add extra dates and dried fruit.
Chopped hazelnuts or almonds instead if you wish.
Nutrition Information
Yield 12 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 230Total Fat 7gSaturated Fat 3gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 4gCholesterol 44mgSodium 101mgCarbohydrates 33gFiber 1gSugar 17gProtein 9g
Anne Wright says
Thank you, a most timely recipe as I had dates and walnuts to use. Made it this afternoon, used tea to soak the fruit and added cherries. It was so easy that I think this will turn out to be a real favourite!