Irish Barmbrack
Easy
Irish Barmbrack, or Báirín Breac, is a delicious tea-infused fruit loaf that’s traditionally enjoyed around Halloween. We’ve used a mix of sultanas, raisins and currants, but other popular inclusion are glazed cherries and candied orange peel. Another popular addition is whiskey. It can be baked in a round cake tin or as a loaf, and of course, you can’t forget the fun of adding a few trinkets that will predict your fortune for the following year; like a ring (luck is coming your way, or marriage for the single recipient), coin (a year of wealth!), pea (sadly, no wedding bells for you), stick (oh dear, an unhappy marriage) or piece of cloth (a year of hard times!). You may want to only add the positive trinkets, or even think up a few of your own, but as with any traditional bake, every family has their own version, so feel free to make a tweak here or there to make it your own. The fruit needs time to infuse with tea so start the process the night before baking.
Irish Barmbrack
Easy
Introduction
Irish Barmbrack, or Báirín Breac, is a delicious tea-infused fruit loaf that’s traditionally enjoyed around Halloween. We’ve used a mix of sultanas, raisins and currants, but other popular inclusion are glazed cherries and candied orange peel. Another popular addition is whiskey. It can be baked
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Ingredients
- 300ml strong black tea*
- 125g raisins
- 125g sultanas
- 125g currants
- 1 egg, beaten
- 150g soft light brown sugar
- 225g self raising flour
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- ¼ tsp salt
- Honey, for glazing
Method
- 1. The night before, brew the tea (using 2 teabags) with freshly boiled water and leave to steep for about 10 minutes. Once brewed, squeeze out the teabags and discard them.
- 2. *If including whiskey, you’ll need 250ml black tea (brewed with 2 teabags) and 50ml whiskey.
- 3. Place the dried fruit in a large bowl and pour over the hot tea. Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and leave to plump up and infuse overnight.
- 4. The day of baking, pre-heat oven to 180°C / 160°C fan assisted and line a 900g (2lb) loaf tin with parchment paper.
- 5. Add the egg, sugar, flour, mixed spice, and salt to the fruit mix and mix well with a wooden spoon until there’s no dry flour visible.
- 6. Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf tin. (If you’re including trinkets, make sure they’re clean and well wrapped in parchment paper, then push them about halfway down into the batter.)
- 7. Bake until a skewer comes out without any wet batter on it, about 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes.
- 8. Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack. Drizzle a little bit of honey over the top of the loaf then brush with a pastry brush to glaze. Leave to cool in the tin for about 20 minutes, then use the overhanging parchment paper to lift the loaf out of the tin and leave to cool on the cooling rack for at least another 20-30 minutes.
- 9. Enjoy while still a little warm with good lashings of butter. Also delicious toasted the next day!
- 10. Keep stored at room temperature in an airtight container. Slices can also be frozen in freezer bags.
