Hot Cross Bun season might be ‘over’, but the good news is it’s always Fruit Loaf season. At my house anyway. The squeaky wheel (seasonal bun) always gets the grease, as they say. But sometimes the workhorse back wheel deserves its time in the spotlight. That’s what Fruit Loaf is to me – a workhorse. Like the larger, weightier and beefier parent of the Hot Cross Bun, Fruit Loaf is there when you need it, 365 days a year. Uncomplicated and resolute, it’s ready to impart its fruity wisdom whenever you’re ready to hear it. Learning to make my own has proved a very worthwhile project.

Fruit loaf (or bun loaf, as my Dad calls it) has been an afternoon treat I have long been enthusiastic about. My strongest memories of it come from living in Melbourne 15 years ago, where fruit breads were available at many more bakeries than they appear to be in the UK. I particularly liked the fruit loaf from Dench bakery, but fruit toast would often be on brunch menus at cafes – topped with fruit compotes and ricotta – and you could pick up a decent quality version on most high streets.

The lack of fruit breads in UK bakeries is a crying shame. It still seems to persist despite there having been an increase in the number of excellent bakeries not too far from my vicinity over the last 5 years.

If fruit breads are available, they’re often ‘cinnamon and raisin breads’ but this simply won’t do. I want a bread that’s speckled with currants, sultanas, raisins and apricots too, for luck. I want a good hit of cinnamon like you’d find in a hot cross bun. I want a bread that offers a surprise with each mouthful.

It turns out I had to make it myself. And so I have. Six times until I got it right.