English breakfast date cake

The winner of this week's food fight is an afternoon tea delight.

Ingredients (serves 6)
* 3 tbs English breakfast tea leaves
* 250g Trident pitted dates, roughly chopped
* 1 3/4 cups (265g) self-raising flour
* 1/4 cup (40g) plain flour
* 3/4 cup (155g) brown sugar
* 125g butter, melted
* 2 eggs, lightly whisked
* Butter, to serve


Method
1. Preheat oven 160°C. Grease a 22cm x 11cm loaf pan. Combine the tea leaves and 1 1/3 cups (330ml) boiling water in a small saucepan. Bring to the boil over a medium heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer 1-2 minutes. Strain through a piece of muslin over a bowl, squeezing out all the liquid from the tea leaves. Discard the tea leaves. Place the dates in a bowl and pour over the tea. Allow to cool, then cover and set aside overnight.
2. Sift the flours into a large bowl, stir in the sugar. Add the date mixture, butter and eggs and stir until just combined.
3. Spoon the mixture into pan. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Set aside to cool. Serve sliced with butter.

Source
Fresh Living - Page 50
Recipe by Kerrie Sun