Moist easy fruit loaf recipe with simple ingredients

This easy fruit loaf recipe gives you a golden cake filled with tea-soaked raisins and sultanas. I love a slice while it’s still a little warm, with some salted butter melting into it… Yes, please!

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Watch my easy fruit loaf recipe video below, and I’ll show you how to make it step by step. Give the video a like and subscribe to my YouTube channel for more cake recipes.

Watch my easy fruit loaf recipe video below, and let’s bake it together. Give the video a like and subscribe to my YouTube channel for more delicious cake recipes.

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Why I love this fruit loaf

There’s more dried fruit than flour in this recipe: 500 grams of raisins and sultanas to 300 grams of flour. I love that generous amount of fruit, especially when the raisins have had time to soak up the tea.

There’s no butter or oil in the batter, and you mix it by hand. I like that you can get the fruit soaking the night before, then put the batter together with a bowl and a spoon when you’re ready to bake.

Texture + flavor

This fruit loaf is moist and tender, with soft, juicy raisins and sultanas. Strong black tea adds a malty flavor, the brown sugar brings a little caramel taste, and the mixed spice adds the warmth of cinnamon and nutmeg. It has that familiar old-fashioned tea loaf flavor… sweet fruit, warm spices, and plenty going on in the cake itself.

Fruit loaf recipe ingredients

These amounts make one 9×5-inch loaf, about 10 servings. The US measurements are approximate, so use the gram weights if you have a kitchen scale, especially for the flour and dried fruit.

• 2½ cups (300 g) self-rising flour
• 1¼ teaspoons (5 g) baking powder
• 1 teaspoon (5 g) fine salt, only if your flour has no added salt
• 2 teaspoons (5 g) mixed spice
• ¾ cup (150 g) packed brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1½ cups (250 g) golden raisins or sultanas
• 1½ cups (250 g) raisins
• 1¼ cups (300 ml) strong black tea, hot, for soaking
• Up to 7 tablespoons (100 ml) additional strong black tea, cooled, for the batter
• Salted butter, for serving, optional

Note: Most US self-rising flour already contains salt, so leave out the separate salt if it’s listed on your flour package. The original recipe’s 5 grams of salt is for flour without added salt; keep the extra baking powder listed above.

Equipment

• 9×5-inch loaf pan, about 23×13 cm
• Parchment paper
• Heatproof bowl for soaking the fruit
• Large mixing bowl
• Sieve
• Spoon or spatula
• Skewer or toothpick
• Cooling rack

Let’s make this fruit loaf

Step 1: Soak the fruit overnight

Put the golden raisins and raisins in a heatproof bowl. Brew three black tea bags in 1¼ cups (300 ml) freshly boiled water for five minutes, then remove the tea bags and pour the hot tea over the fruit. Mix, cover the bowl, and leave the fruit to soak overnight.

English breakfast tea is a good choice for a malty flavor. Earl Grey works too if you prefer a little citrus flavor from the bergamot.

Step 2: Sift the dry ingredients

The next day, preheat your oven to 340°F (170°C). Put the self-rising flour, baking powder, salt if needed, and mixed spice in a sieve, then sift them together into a large mixing bowl.

Note: If you don’t have mixed spice, use the same amount of pumpkin pie spice. For a simpler blend, use 1½ teaspoons cinnamon and ½ teaspoon nutmeg instead of the 2 teaspoons mixed spice.

Step 3: Add the brown sugar

Add the brown sugar to the bowl. Mix it through the sifted ingredients.

Step 4: Mix in the egg

Add the egg and mix it into the dry ingredients. The mixture will still look dry at this point, which is fine because the tea goes in next.

Step 5: Add the soaking tea

Strain the soaked fruit over the mixing bowl so the remaining tea goes into the mixture. Keep the fruit to one side and mix the tea into the batter.

Did You Know: Black tea adds color as well as flavor to a fruit loaf. Along with the brown sugar, it helps give the baked cake its brown color.

Step 6: Adjust the batter

Have the additional cooled tea ready. Add it a little at a time, mixing between additions so you can judge the texture before pouring in more.

Top Tip: Stop adding tea when the batter is thick but drops slowly from your spoon. You might not need the full 100 ml, and adding it gradually helps you avoid a runny batter.

Step 7: Fold in the fruit

Add the soaked raisins and sultanas to the bowl. Gently fold them through until the fruit is coated in batter and evenly mixed.

Step 8: Fill the loaf pan

Line your 9×5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper and scoop in the batter. Scrape around the bowl, because you don’t want to waste any of that lovely fruit and batter. Spread it into the corners and smooth the top so the batter is roughly the same depth across the pan.

Step 9: Bake the fruit loaf

Bake on the middle oven rack for 60–70 minutes, starting to check at 60 minutes. The top should be golden brown, and a skewer inserted into the center should come out without wet batter. If you hit a raisin, check another spot, since the fruit can leave a sticky mark on the skewer.

Top Tip: If the top is getting too dark while the center still needs baking, loosely cover it with aluminum foil. Continue baking until the center passes the skewer test, even if it needs a little longer than the suggested time.

Step 10: Cool and serve

Let the loaf rest in the pan a little time, until it’s firm enough to handle, then carefully turn it out onto a cooling rack and peel off the parchment paper. Give it enough time to settle before cutting, but you can enjoy a slice while it’s still a little warm. Salted butter is optional, although that’s how I like mine.

Related Recipe: And if you’d like to try another fruit loaf recipe, I’ve got a really nice fruit cake loaf here. It’s a little different from this recipe, but it’s just as easy to make and comes out lovely and moist.

How to store your fruit loaf

Let the remaining loaf cool completely, then wrap it and put it in an airtight container. Keep it in a cool spot at room temperature for up to four days, and avoid wrapping it while it’s warm because trapped steam can make the surface damp.

Warm a slice again

Put a slice on a microwave-safe plate and warm it for about 10 seconds. Check it and add a few more seconds if needed; you’re warming the slice, so a short burst is usually enough.

More fruit loaf recipes to try

Have a look at the other fruit loaf recipes below if you’d like more ideas for baking with different fruits and flavors.

• Grandma’s Secret to a Moist Traditional Fruit Cake – There’s something special about a traditional fruit cake made the old-fashioned way. This recipe brings back those lovely homemade flavors, with plenty of dried fruit in every slice.
• The Best Moist Fruit Cake Recipe I Have Ever Made! – If you’ve ever struggled with fruit cake turning out too dry, this recipe is worth trying. It’s packed with dried fruit and has a wonderfully moist texture that stays lovely for days.
• Semolina Fruit Cake – Want to try something different from a regular flour-based fruit cake? Semolina gives this cake a lovely texture, while the fruit adds plenty of sweetness and flavor. It’s especially nice with a cup of tea.

And if you make this easy fruit loaf recipe, tell me how it turned out, or leave any questions in the comments below or on the YouTube video comments. I’ll try to respond to all your comments and questions!