Irish Tea Brack Recipe - Fruit Loaf - Oil-free, Dairy-free, Eggless Recipe (2024)

A dairy-free eggless version of the popular Irish fruit loaf. This homemade tea brack recipe is easy to make, light — as it is naturally oil-free — and delicious.

This is a popular fruit loaf in Ireland. I sometimes buy fruit loaves in the supermarkets; they have some that are dairy & egg-free. I’ve always wanted to try out a proper homemade tea brack recipe though.

After searching for a vegan recipe, I found that most of them used egg-replacer which I didn’t have. So I decided to start off from a non-vegan recipe that I veganised.

I replaced the egg with 1/2 a banana. Only half was just the right amount to act as a binding agent without leaving the banana flavour behind. I also reduced the sugar because I thought the fruits would provide enough sweetness and also because I like this to be more like a loaf than cake. (I could have reduced the sugar even more I think…)

The original (non-vegan) recipe said to bake this at 160 degrees Celsius for one hour. But I started baking at a higher temperature then reduced gradually.

It took longer than an hour and in the end I baked it for an hour and a half. It might have been because I used prunes and they contain a bit more moisture. So, if you are not using prunes, you might need less baking time.

More loaf/cake recipes from the blog:

Apple and Orange Vegan Loaf Cake

Chocolate Pumpkin Loaf Cake with Fudgey Chocolate Glaze

Here’s a video of another spiced tea brack recipe that I’ve made more recently:

Irish Tea Brack Recipe

Ingredients
100 g muscovado (or soft dark brown) sugar
1 tablespoon molasses (optional)
300 ml black tea (I brewed strong Lyons loose tea)
350 g mixed dried fruits (I used raisins, chopped dried apricots, prunes and dried cranberries, you can reduce the amount to 250 g for a bit less fruit)
1/2 banana, mashed
240 g flour (I used 75 g wholewheat and the rest plain white)
1 heaped teaspoon baking powder

To make Irish Tea Brack:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Add dried fruits to hot tea. Dissolve in the sugar. Let soak for about 15 minutes.

Mix baking powder and flour.

Add liquid ingredients, stir and mix well.

Add mash bananas.

Pour into a loaf tin.

Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes (or until a metal skewer comes out clean). I baked this at 180 degrees Celsius for the first 20 minutes, then lowered to 160 degrees for the next 50 minutes, and then 170 degrees for the final 20 minutes. I turned off the oven and let it sit in there for another 10 minutes.

(But do the toothpick test to see when yours is done. You might need less time…)

Let cool before cutting.

I liked the way it turned out; it was crusty on the outside but moist inside. This is nice smeared with a bit of vegan margarine too! Enjoy with a cuppa tea.

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