Traditional Irish Barmbrack

 

Prepare yourself to fall in love with this beautiful Traditional Irish Barmbrack recipe I am sharing with you today. It is a bread which is normally baked in Ireland for Halloween, but I thought there was no better time to bake it in North American than for Saint Patrick's Day, so here it is!

I adapted this recipe from one I found in Coleman Andrew's Book, The Country Cooking of Ireland. I bought my copy used a year or so ago.  If you are looking for a good book referencing the cooking of Ireland, you can't get much better than this book.

It can be rather pricey depending on where you get it from and what condition.  You need to shop around for it. I paid nowhere near the price that they are asking for it now. Having said that however, it is a really hefty tome to Irish cookery.

  

I have another recipe for an Irish bread on here, called Irish Tea Brack.  The two are similar only in that they both contain copious amounts of dried fruit.  One is a yeast bread and one would fall under the auspices of what we consider to be a tea bread.

This is the yeasted version. The other is the tea version and in fact you need to soak the dried fruit used in it overnight in strong tea.  Its also very delicious.  

Whichever one you choose to make depends on the result you want and what kind of mood you are in. Both are fabulous breads.

 

The word "brack" comes from the Irish word "breac," meaning speckled.   And this bread is liberally speckled with dried sultanas and currants.  I do so love a fruity bread and this is one of the best.

As I said, in Ireland, it is normally baked around Halloween and trinkets/tokens are inserted and baked into the bread for some lucky person to find. These trinkets could be things such as rings (predicting an impending marriage), a button or thimble (bachelor or spinsterhood), or a coin (impending wealth.)

 

A holy medal or a cross could suggest that you might become a priest or a nun.  A small stick portended an argument of some sort.  A piece of cloth foretold want in the year to come.

These would normally be wrapped in wax paper to help protect the tokens from being accidentally ingested. I did not include any tokens in my bread, but I can see where it would really add a lot of fun to the eating of it if you were in a crowd and be quite a conversation starter!  

 

 

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE A TRADITIONAL IRISH BARMBRACK

Simple everyday baking ingredients. All of which are pretty much self-explanatory.  The cherries are optional.

• two (1/4 oz/7g) packets of active dry yeast
• 6 TBS sugar
• 2 cups (480ml) warm water
• 2 TBS cold butter, cut into bits
• 4 1/2 cups (562g) plain flour, plus more for dusting
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup (150g) sultana raisins
• 1 cup (150g) dried currants
• 1/2 cup (40g) mixed candied peel, finely chopped (lemon and orange)
• about 4 glace cherries, finely chopped (optional)

 

HOW TO MAKE TRADITIONAL IRISH BARMBRACK

This is a bit labor intensive with the kneading, etc. but I promise you it is more than worth any effort taken!  Do make sure to read through the instructions several times before beginning.

Put the yeast and 1 TBS of the sugar into a medium sized bowl. Add the two cups of warm water gradually. Set aside for about 10 minutes until the mixture becomes quite frothy.

 

While you are waiting, measure the flour into a large bowl. Drop in the butter and rub it into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs.

Stir in 4 TBS sugar, the ginger, nutmeg, salt, sultanas, currants, candied peel and chopped cherries (if using.) Make a well in the center of the mixture.

Pour the yeast mixture into the well and stir it into the flour mixture, using a spiral motion from the middle out towards the sides, until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead, dusting with more flour as need be, for about 5 minutes. You should have a dough that is elastic and slightly sticky.

Pop the dough into a large greased bowl, cover with a clean kitchen towel and set aside in a warm place to rise for about an hour until the dough has doubled in size.

 

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface again and knead gently for a minute or two. Shape into a round and drop into a deep cake tin that you have buttered and lined with greaseproof paper. (Mine was a 7-inch deep round tin.)

Cover with a clean towel and set aside in a warm place for about half an hour.

Preheat the oven to 450*F/230*C/gas mark 7.

Pop the bread into the oven and bake for 14 minutes. Tent with foil and then reduce the oven temperature to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Bake for 40 minutes longer, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Dissolve the remaining 1 TBS of sugar in 1 TBS hot water and brush this mixture over top of the loaf. Return to the oven for 5 to 7 minutes.

Lift out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely.

 

This bread is really lovely sliced thinly, spread with soft butter and served with a hot cuppa.  It would expecially be nice served with afternoon tea. 

 

Oh heck, it is nice served anytime! A truly humble bread with an anything but humble taste!

If you are looking for more Irish bread recipes to round out your Saint Patrick's Day celebrations you might want to consider the following:

BOXTY (IRISH POTATO CAKES) -Boxty, or Irish Potato Cakes are a very traditional Irish type of bread. Also known as farls, this is a very traditional recipe for potato cakes which uses only a few ingredients. Potatoes, salt, butter and flour.  

TRADITIONAL IRISH SODA BREAD -This is a simple classic bread in many Irish households. Perfect for mopping up gravies and stews and for serving alongside of hearty broths and soups! It is also pretty wonderful served warm, buttered, and spread with jam or honey, meant to be washed down with copious cups of hot tea! 

Yield: 1 loaf

Author: Marie Rayner

Traditional Irish Barmbrack

Prep time: 1 H & 40 MCook time: 1 H & 5 MTotal time: 2 H & 45 M

Speckled Bread, this yeast bread is speckled with plenty of raisins and currants. Traditionally it would be baked for Halloween with tokens baked into it. I am posting this for Saint Patrick's Day. Its delicious served sliced, buttered and served with a hot drink.

Ingredients

• two (1/4 oz/7g) packets of active dry yeast
• 6 TBS sugar
• 2 cups (480ml) warm water
• 2 TBS cold butter, cut into bits
• 4 1/2 cups (562g) plain flour, plus more for dusting
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup (150g) sultana raisins
• 1 cup (150g) dried currants
• 1/2 cup (40g) mixed candied peel, finely chopped
• about 4 glace cherries, finely chopped (optional)

Instructions

1. Put the yeast and 1 TBS of the sugar into a medium sized bowl. Add the two cups of warm water gradually. Set aside for about 10 minutes until the mixture becomes quite frothy.
2. While you are waiting, measure the flour into a large bowl. Drop in the butter and rub it into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs.
3. Stir in 4 TBS sugar, the ginger, nutmeg, salt, sultanas, currants, candied peel and chopped cherries (if using.) Make a well in the center of the mixture.
4. Pour the yeast mixture into the well and stir it into the flour mixture, using a spiral motion from the middle out towards the sides, until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl.
5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead, dusting with more flour as need be, for about 5 minutes. You should have a dough that is elastic and slightly sticky.
6. Pop the dough into a large greased bowl, cover with a clean kitchen towel and set aside in a warm place to rise for about an hour until the dough has doubled in size.
7. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface again and knead gently for a minute or two. Shape into a round and drop into a deep cake tin that you have buttered and lined with greaseproof paper. (Mine was a 7-inch deep round tin.)
8. Cover with a clean towel and set aside in a warm place for about half an hour.
9. Preheat the oven to 450*F/230*C/gas mark 7.
10. Pop the bread into the oven and bake for 14 minutes. Tent with foil and then reduce the oven temperature to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Bake for 40 minutes longer, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
11. Dissolve the remaining 1 TBS of sugar in 1 TBS hot water and brush this mixture over top of the loaf. Return to the oven for 5 to 7 minutes.
12. Lift out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely.

Did you make this recipe?

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Oh, that Nutmeg sure makes me smile. He is always trying to get in on the act.  While I was taking photos of this bread I had a curtain pulled around the chair next to my stand where I had the bread set up. This was him, pulling the curtain aside so he could have a peek at what was going on.  He's so funny!

In the meantime Cinnamon was perched on the other side of me watching him make a fool of himself. Oh what would I do without these two lovely companions of mine. Brother and sister, I have had them since they were 8 weeks old. They are now 20 months old.