This Lincolnshire plum bread is a proper tea loaf, packed full of juicy fruit and delicious with a cup of tea.
But, up in the north of the country, they also serve it with a slice of cheese because it's absolutely delicious.
The sweet plum loaf compliments the sourness of the cheese and is the perfect accompaniment.
Easy to make, from store cupboard ingredients, so go and get baking.
Bon appétit
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🤔FAQs
Traditionally dried plums or prunes were often used in cooking, but the word plum, in old English, is very often used to mean raisins or other dried fruit.
Christmas pudding, also known as plum pudding, is another example.
Many bread recipes require you to knock the air out of the dough after the first rise.
This is because large pockets of air accumulate in the dough and this would lead to an uneven texture with large holes in the bread.
The easiest way is to leave the dough in the bowl and use one hand to bring the outside of the dough to the middle a few times.
This will help the dough to have more a uniform texture.
I was born and bred in the far south of England in Hampshire, before I moved to France. Now I now live in a small Lincolnshire village in the east Midlands. It couldn't be more different.
The great thing is that I'm now living in the heart of farmland, surrounded by abundant game and fields of vegetables in amazing soil. It's no wonder then, that Lincolnshire has some famous regional dishes.
This is actually a loaf that is historically eaten at Christmas time, but now it's eaten all year round and most butcher shops and farm shops sell ready made plum bread or plum loaf, all around Lincolnshire.
It's perfect as a snack spread with butter or as lunch or tea, served with a slice of cheese.
Best of all, it's made with store cupboard ingredients and a good way to use up all your leftover dried fruit.
❤️ Why you will love this dish
- Store cupboard ingredients.
- Traditional Lincolnshire dish.
- Delicious with cheese.
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🥘 Ingredients
- Dried fruit - currants, sultanas and raisins. These can be bought in individual packets but often a bag of mixed fruit is better value if you don't do a lot of baking.
- Flour - strong white bread flour.
- Milk - full fat or semi skimmed.
- Yeast - instant dried yeast.
- Sugar - soft brown sugar.
- Eggs - medium free range eggs.
- Butter
- Cinnamon - ground cinnamon.
- Nutmeg - freshly ground.
- Allspice - ground allspice berries
- Tea - a cup of hot black tea.
The printable recipe card with full ingredient quantities and instructions can be found at the bottom of the article.
🍽 Equipment
- measuring jug
- stand mixer with dough hook - optional
- 1.5 litre loaf tin
🔪 Instructions
How to make the tea bread
Put the dried fruit into a bowl and pour over the hot tea. This will help the fruits to rehydrate and become plumped up and juicy in the plum bread.
Stir the fruits and leave to soak while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Measure the milk into a jug, then and add the sugar eggs and butter and whisk well.
Sprinkle on the yeast and stir in.
Fix a dough hook to a stand mixer and add the flour to the bowl with the spices. Mix to combine.
You don't need a food mixer to make plum bread so just use a big bowl and wooden spoon instead.
Pour in the wet mixture and mix until the dough comes together.
Strain the fruit and add to the mixing bowl. Briefly mix to combine the fruit.
Remove the dough from the bowl and knead by hand for about five minutes until the dough is smooth and the fruit is evenly distributed.
Add a little oil to the mixing bowl to make sure that the dough doesn't stick.
Put the dough into the bowl, covered with a clean a tea towel and leave in a warm place for an hour.
Briefly punch the dough in the bowl to knock out the air.
Place the dough into a 1 ½ litre loaf tin and leave to prove for a further hour.
⏲️ Cooking Time
Bake in the oven at 190 C / 375 F / 170 FAN / Gas 5 for between 40 and 50 minutes until golden.
Cool in the tin before slicing.
🥗 Side Dishes
Serve as an afternoon tea with some of these ideas.
- Jamaica Ginger Cake
- Cheese Savoury
- Coronation Chicken Sandwiches
- Egg Mayonnaise Sandwiches
- Fruit Loaf
- Cherry Madeira Cake
- Scones
- Butterscotch Tart
- Cheese and Bacon Scones
- Afternoon Tea Sandwiches
- Sultana Scones
📖 Variations
Swap the fruit for some of these ideas.
- Dried cranberries
- Dried apricots - chopped
- Mixed peel
🍣 Storage
- Store in an airtight container for up to a week.
More British favourites to try
📋 Recipe
Lincolnshire Plum bread
Equipment
- Measuring jug
- Stand mixer with dough hook optional
- 1.5 litre loaf tin
Ingredients
- 100 g raisins
- 100 g currants
- 100 g sultanas
- 250 ml black tea
- 450 g strong white bread flour
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 2 eggs
- 125 ml milk
- 15 g dried yeast
- 50 g soft brown sugar
- 110 g butter melted
Instructions
- Put the dried fruit into a bowl and pour over the hot tea. Leave to soak.
- Measure the milk into a jug, then add the sugar eggs and butter and whisk well. Stir in the yeast.
- Add the flour to the mixing bowl and mix in the spices.
- Pour in the wet mixture and mix until the dough comes together.
- Strain the fruit and add to the mixing bowl. Briefly mix to combine the fruit.
- Remove the dough from the bowl and knead by hand for about five minutes until the dough is smooth and the fruit is evenly distributed.
- Put the dough into the bowl, covered with a clean a tea towel and leave in a warm place for an hour.
- Briefly knead the dough in the bowl then place the dough into a 1 ½ litre loaf tin and leave to prove for a further hour.
- Bake in the oven at 190 C / 375 F / 170FAN / Gas 5for between 40 and 50 minutes until golden.
- Cool in the tin before slicing.
Disclaimer: The nutritional information provided is approximate and is calculated using online tools. Information can vary depending on various factors, but we have endeavoured to be as accurate as possible.
Detailed instructions for this recipe, including step by step photographs, hints and tips, can be found in the main article.
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🍲 Food Safety
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat.
- Wash hands after touching raw meat.
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods.
- Never leave cooking food unattended.
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds.
- Always have good ventilation when using gas.
Do you have a question or did you make the recipe? Please leave a rating as it helps other readers to discover this dish. Your name and email are required to avoid spam comments; they are never used for any purpose or shared with third parties.
However, due to spam comments, I do have to moderate each one, so don't worry if you cannot see your comment immediately. I'll publish your comments as soon as I can.
Amanda
Hi Michael. Thanks for your question. It is a 2 lb tin. I'll update the recipe card because I should have put both measurements. Many thanks,
Amanda
Michael Innes
A quick question if you can help please.......
Your recipe calls for a 1 1/2 litre Loaf Tin. Is this the equivilent of a standard 2 lb Loaf Tin?
Thanks.
Krissy Allori
I've rehydrated fruit with alcohol before but never tea. What an interesting method and it was so tasty!
Jess
A slice of this fresh bread with some butter on it...life does not get much better!
Claudia Lamascolo
I love the flavors in plum so this tea bread must be awesome wish I had a slice right now it looks fantastic!
Jacqueline Meldrum
I've never heard of this being called plum bread, how interesting and it looks delicious!
Anjali
This recipe for plum bread was so comforting and made my kitchen smell amazing!! It was the perfect accompaniment to my afternoon tea!!
Angela
Wonderful recipe! My family loved it. Thanks!
Toni
Such a perfect bread!! Love how easy it is! Thank you!
Beth
This looks so delicious and wonderful! I can’t wait to try this bread! My daughter is going to love this!
Pam
I love learning about regional dishes and food cultures. This bread looks divine and I can actually imagine how wonderful it would be with a slice of cheese.
Beth Sachs
My 5 year old loves tea bread. This looks like a delicious recipe and we will be trying it out at the weekend!