Bara Brith from The Big Rock Cafe in Porthmadog, Wales

We came back from Wales with a wonderful Welsh delicacy, Bara Brith. It's a traditional Wales tea cake made with yeast or self-raising flour, flavored with tea, dried fruits and mixed spices. The cake seems very common in Wales.

We have seen Bara Brith at any cafes and grocery stores we stopped by during our recent trip, but I wanted to try one that was freshly handmade only with decent ingredients. The Big Rock Cafe in Porthmadog met my criteria! J generously bought two loafs for us. Thank you J!

The Big Rock Cafe's Bara Brith was made with very simple ingredients: currants, sultanas, glace cherries, apricots, raisins, tea, dark brown sugar, free range eggs and flour. No fat (oil or butter) was in the cake. I thought Bara Brith is very similar to Tea Brack, a traditional Irish fruit cake made with strong-brewed tea. Their cousin may be Bettys' Yorkshire Tea Loaf. It's also made with tea-soaked fruits although there is a big difference - with butter. I guess, in Yorkshire, a cake cannot be made without butter.

Apparently Bara Brith is usually served sliced and buttered at tea time. We had a couple of slices for breakfast, first time as is and the second time toasted and topped with butter spread. The cake was lovely with a caramel-like flavor from brown sugar and a chewy texture. We happily finished two loafs!