Blackcurrant teabread
Tart blackcurrants make an excellent summer teabread that is fruity without being too sweet, while mint adds a fresh, herbal note. If you have a glut of blackcurrants, make a few loaves and freeze for up to 2 months.
Ingredients
Serves: 12
- 340 g (12 oz) self-raising flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 50 g (1¾ oz) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- 100 g (3½ oz) light muscovado sugar
- 150 g (5½ oz) fresh blackcurrants
- 3 tbsp chopped fresh mint
- 150 ml (5 fl oz) orange juice, or as needed
Method
Prep:20min ›
Cook:1hr15min ›
Ready in:1hr35min
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC (350ºF, gas mark 4). Grease and line a 900 g (2 lb) loaf tin. Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl, then rub in the butter with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar, and make a well in the centre.
- Put the blackcurrants and mint into the well in the dry ingredients and pour in the orange juice. Gradually stir the dry ingredients into the liquid until everything is thoroughly combined. The mixture should be soft, so add 1–2 tbsp more orange juice if necessary.
- Turn the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the top. Bake for about 1 ¼ hours or until risen, brown and firm to the touch. If the loaf looks as though it is browning too much after about 50 minutes, place a piece of foil loosely over the top.
- Leave the teabread to cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn it out onto a wire rack to cool completely. This teabread is best left overnight before serving, and can be kept in an airtight tin for up to 3 days.
Some more ideas
Make blueberry teabread by substituting fresh blueberries for the blackcurrants. * For cranberry pecan teabread, substitute roughly chopped fresh cranberries for the blackcurrants. Replace the mint with ½ tsp ground cinnamon, sifting it with the flour, and stir in 100 g (3½ oz) pecan nuts with the sugar.
Plus points
Blackcurrants are an excellent source of vitamin C – weight for weight, they contain 4 times as much vitamin C as oranges. They also provide useful amounts of potassium, and are rich in a group of phytochemicals called bioflavonoids, which may help to protect against heart disease. * The oils menthol, menthone and menthyl acetate, responsible for the characteristic flavour of mint, are believed to have powerful antiseptic properties. Naturopaths prescribe mint to help to relieve toothache, stress headaches and digestive problems.
Each serving provides
Good source of vitamin C. Useful source of potassium, vitamin B1.
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Reviews & ratings
Average global rating:
(6)
Reviews in English (6)
Made this with blueberries instead of blackcurrants for my boyfriends diabetic mum. Perfect and really easy to make, tasted lovely and was safe for diabetics, so whats not to love? My only qualm is i didn't understand why mint was in the recipe so i took it out and it still tasted fine. - 19 Mar 2010
I made this as I was looking for something to use up all of my home grown blackcurrents this year. It made a tasty snack for my 4 and 2 year old sons. I think the mint is essential if you are using blackcurrents as it adds a bit more sweetness while keeping down the amount of sugar. We liked it toasted and spread with a bit of butter. Thanks for the recipe I will make it again and again. - 05 Aug 2013
I made this as the kids school sent home a load of blackcurrents so I made 2 loafs. It was delicious and the school were very impressed and said it was the nicest tea bread they had. I only had white sugars and I didn't have any mint. I will definitely make this again. Thank you for the recipe. It is a bead not cake so you do need to put butter on to eat - 03 Oct 2015