Jack Adair Bevan’s negroni bara brith
INGREDIENTS
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300g mixed dried fruit (e.g. sultanas, raisins, currants)
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225ml hot oolong tea
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10ml Campari
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25ml Jin Môr
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100ml Martini Rosso or an inexpensive sweet vermouth
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100g dark brown muscovado sugar
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250g self-raising flour
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1 tsp mixed spice
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1 egg, beaten
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butter, for greasing
The award-winning food and drink writer Jack Adair Bevan has been kind enough to share with us a handful of recipes this spring, celebrating some of Wales’ finest ingredients. This gin soaked take on a classic bara brith is as good as it sounds. Serve it with a slick of butter and generous pinch of Halen Môn sea salt.
From Jack – As a little boy, I lived for a year in a little cottage with my mum near a small seaside village called Dale, in Pembrokeshire. The rest of our family lived in Milford Haven and I can remember the older generations would use any excuse to bake Bara Brith. They would often leave it wrapped in a cotton tea towel outside the front door if nobody was home. I like to add Martini Rosso, gin and Campari and take out a little of the tea to give a little more depth to the overall flavour. Serve it with a thick spread of salty butter.
METHOD
- Put the dried fruit in a bowl and pour over the hot tea, Campari, gin and vermouth. Mix in the sugar and stir well to dissolve. Leave to soak for at least 6 hours or overnight.
- The next day, preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan/350°F/Gas 4) and grease a 900g loaf tin with butter.
- Sift the flour and mixed spice into the soaked fruit with all of that wonderful liquid and stir in the beaten egg.
- Mix thoroughly and pour the mixture into the greased tin. Bake for about 55 minutes, until the cake has risen and is cooked through. A knife inserted will come out clean when the bara brith is ready.
- Leave to cool on a wire rack. You are supposed to leave the bread to mature for a couple of days, as if that’s going to happen!
We’d heartily recommend Jack’s book A Spirited Guide to Vermouth, which is full of his original recipes – from a Blood Orange Vermouth and Tonic to a Rosemary Bijou. It also has contributions from some of our favourite chefs, including Russell Norman, Olia Hercules, Gill Meller and Jeremy Lee.
