Bara Brith (Welsh tea bread) From Guest Author Cathy Ace

Vicki here today, delighted to introduce you (although to many of you she needs no introduction) to my good friend the Canadian author, Cathy Ace. I’ve been friends with Cathy for a number of years and I always look forward to another of her literary adventures taking us around the world or to her native Wales.  Cathy and I will be on stage together at Bouchercon in Calgary on Saturday, October 24. We hope to see many of you there. 

Bara translates to English from Welsh as “bread”, and brith translates as “speckled”, which is an apt description of this easy-to-make teatime treat. It offers a moist mouthful, where most of the sweetness comes from the fruit itself, rather than added sugar, and even that is “cut” by the taste of the tea, so it’s never sickly sweet. More or less every home in Wales will have its own Bara brith recipe, so variations abound; the main thing is to keep the ratios the same, but feel free play with the fruit/combine dried fruits to the correct weight (NOTE: I stick with sultanas because they’re really juicy in the final product, and I think that currants don’t plump up as well, so this recipe uses only sultanas, but that’s because this is the recipe this Welshwoman grew up with in her home, so it’s the one she sticks with!) The fruit is usually soaked overnight, but I’ve made it the same day, putting the fruit to soak as I’ve made my breakfast tea, then making and baking it later on.

Bara Brith (Welsh tea bread)

 Ingredients

300g/10.5ozs sultanas (or currants, or a mix of dried fruits)

300 ml hot water

4 teabags Welsh Brew tea/English Breakfast tea (Orange Pekoe will do at a pinch, but use 5 teabags and allow it to steep for 15 mins, to make it stronger)

 250g/8.8ozs self-raising flour

(You can use plain flour with baking powder added at the ratio of 125g/4.4ozs plain flour plus 1 ½ tsp baking powder)

50g/1.8ozs dark muscovado sugar/brown sugar (golden will do, but using white means you lose some of the lovely “treacly” flavor)

2 medium eggs

 

Big wooden spoon

Spatula, for cleaning the bowl

Two bowls

Measuring jug

1kg/2lbs loaf tin

Butter/margarine for greasing the tin

Greaseproof paper to line the tin

 

Method

 

Step 1

Boil water and add to measuring jug, add the 4 or 5 teabags

Brew for at least 10/15 minutes

Remove and squeeze teabags (this is one time where you’ll prefer using teabags rather than loose tea)

Pull all the dried fruit in a bowl, add the tea

Mix together so all the fruit is covered by the tea

Cover, and leave at room temperature overnight, or for at least 5 hours

 

Step 2

Measure flour into a bowl

Add and mix in sugar

 

Add contents of cold tea/fruit mixture (including all liquid)

  

Mix well

Add one egg

Mix well

Add second egg

 Mix well

Grease/butter your loaf tin and line with parchment paper

 

 

Pour/spoon mixture into tin

 

 

Bake at 300F/150C for one and a half hours (until a fork comes out clean and the top is dark and glossy)

Allow to cool

 

Serving:

Slice thick to eat as a cake, slice thin to butter and eat as bread and eat as it is, or serve it with butter and a good, strong cheese...Welsh cheddar would be perfect (there’s an excellent brand, Colliers, you can usually find at Costco).

 

 

Storing:

You can store in an airtight tin, at room temperature, for up to a week (but we tend to eat it in a couple of days at our house!).

 This is exactly the sort of thing that the Dowager Duchess Althea and her housemate, retired army nurse and private eye Mavis MacDonald, would enjoy for tea at the Dower House on the Chellingworth Estate, in Powys, Wales. If you fancy joining them, why not try my WISE Enquiries Agency Mysteries? They feature cozy Welsh murder mysteries, and, in addition to the titular case, there are always a couple of “side-cases” in each book for good measure. The thirteen in the series, The Case of the Petrified Potter, was published in July.

About Cathy:

Cathy Ace’s WISE Enquiries Agency Mysteries feature four softly poached female PIs solving cozy cases from a Welsh stately home, while her Cait Morgan Mysteries feature a globetrotting Welsh Canadian criminal psychologist who solves traditional whodunits alongside her retired-cop husband, Bud Anderson (the TV production of the series is being developed by Free@LastTV). Shortlisted for Canada’s Bony Blithe Award three times, winning once, Cathy’s also won IPPY and IBA Awards, as well as the CrimeFictionLover Editor’s Choice Award for Best Indie Novel. She’s been shortlisted for Crime Writers of Canada Awards three times. Cathy migrated from Wales aged 40, and now lives in Canada.

Bara Brith is one of my go-to recipes. Let us know in the comments what your favorite sweet treat is to "whip up" when you need a bit of a "fix" for a chance to win a signed paperback copy of one of the books. Contest open to US and Canadian entries. Contest closes Wednesday September 16, 2026