Some books just make you hungry! Some for more from an author or genre. And some for the enticing food that has been described. The Lacemaker by Laura Frantz made me hungry for more of her books plus some of the Welsh bread that Noble Rynalt’s housekeeper served for breakfast and tea. Bara Brith or speckled bread is a traditional bread made in Wales. It is filled with raisins, hence the speckled name, and spices. As in the novel, it is served with butter. Below is the recipe from Allrecipes. I really need to make this one!
From allrecipes.com
Bara Brith
Ingredients
- 1 cup hot brewed tea
- ¾ cup dried currants
- ¾ cup golden raisins
- ¾ cup demerara sugar
- 1 ¼ cups self-rising flour
- 1 egg, beaten
Directions
- Step 1
Pour hot tea over currants and raisins in a bowl; soak 8 hours to overnight.
- Step 2
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- Step 3
Grease a sheet of parchment paper and use it to line a 2-pound loaf pan.
- Step 4
Stir demerara sugar into tea and fruit mixture until dissolved completely.
- Step 5
Mix flour and egg into the tea and fruit mixture until completely integrated into a batter.
- Step 6
Spread batter evenly into the prepared bread pan.
- Step 7
Bake in preheated oven until golden-brown, about 40 minutes. Cool in the bread pan 5 minutes before transferring to a rack to cool completely.
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When colonial Williamsburg explodes like a powder keg on the eve of the American Revolution, Lady Elisabeth “Liberty” Lawson is abandoned by her fiancé and suspected of being a spy for the hated British. No one comes to her aid save the Patriot Noble Rynallt, a man with formidable enemies of his own. Liberty is left with a terrible choice. Will the Virginia belle turned lacemaker side with the radical revolutionaries, or stay true to her English roots? And at what cost?Historical romance favorite Laura Frantz is back with a suspenseful story of love, betrayal, and new beginnings. With her meticulous eye for detail and her knack for creating living, breathing characters, Frantz continues to enchant historical fiction readers who long to feel they are a part of the story.
Christy Award-winning author, Laura Frantz, is passionate about all things historical, particularly the 18th-century, and writes her manuscripts in longhand first. Her stories often incorporate Scottish themes that reflect her family heritage. She is a direct descendant of George Hume, Wedderburn Castle, Berwickshire, Scotland, who was exiled to the American colonies for his role in the Jacobite Rebellion of 1715, settled in Virginia, and is credited with teaching George Washington surveying in the years 1748-1750. When she’s not at home in Kentucky, she and her husband live in Washington State.According to Publishers Weekly, “Frantz has done her historical homework.” With her signature attention to historical detail and emotional depth, she is represented by Janet Kobobel Grant, Literary Agent & Founder, Books & Such Literary Agency of Santa Rosa, California. Foreign language editions include French, Dutch, Spanish, Slovakian, & Polish.
Readers can find Laura Frantz athttp://www.laurafrantz.net.
Such a clever post 😋. Thank you for spotlighting TMoTA. I miss those characters & all the foodie details!
🙂