Tea Bread-Gourmet Magazine June 1972

The recipe was originally for jasmine tea. I still have half a tin of Earl Grey left from another recipe and since no one will drink it (understandable) I used it in this bread. Good call, actually. The original recipe also called for nuts which I omitted without any substitution. The bergamot goes well with the lemon and orange (it is an orange, or some sort of citrus, isn't it?) and when baking with butter, and zest it almost smells good-almost. You can probably guess I'm not a fan of Earl Grey.

You Will Need:

3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter (I used unsalted)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon grated orange rind
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1 teaspoon grated lime rind
3 cups AP flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (I used ginger instead)
3/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup strongly brewed tea (recipe called for jasmine, I used Earl Grey)
1/2 cup chopped pecans (I omitted)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x5x3 loaf pan very well. Set aside.

Cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the grated peels and egg. Mix well. Add the tea to the orange juice and mix. Combine dry ingredients and sift well. Add, alternating with juice/tea mixture. If using nuts, fold it at the last.

Here's the odd bit-let the batter rest in the pan 20 minutes before baking it.

Bake 45-50 minutes or until it tests done (mine took 55). Cool ten minutes in pan, on rack, then cool completely on rack. If you have any citrus curd on hand, this would be a good opportunity to use it.

Makes one large loaf.