Traditional Irish Barmbrack
Barmbrack is a lightly spiced and sweetened Irish fruit bread made with tea-soaked dried fruits and warming spices that fill the kitchen with the most wonderful autumnal aroma as it bakes. Traditionally associated with Halloween in Ireland, small trinkets are hidden in the bread with each item foretelling the finders fortune for the coming year.
A lightly spiced Irish fruit loaf made with tea-soaked dried fruit that is perfect sliced thick and spread with butter.
Nutrition per serving
Ingredients
Fruit
Liquid
Dry
Wet
Seasoning
Instructions
Soak the Fruit
Place all the dried fruit in a large mixing bowl and pour the hot strong black tea over it. Stir well, cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel, and leave the fruit to soak and absorb the tea for at least 4 hours or ideally overnight. The fruit will plump up beautifully and the tea will be mostly absorbed.
Prepare the Batter
Preheat your oven to 170 degrees Celsius and grease and line a 900g loaf tin with baking parchment. Add the flour, brown sugar, mixed spice, and beaten egg to the soaked fruit and its remaining liquid. Stir everything together until you have a thick, well-combined batter with no dry flour remaining.
Fill and Bake
Pour and scrape the batter into the prepared loaf tin and spread it evenly. Bake in the preheated oven for 55 to 65 minutes until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. If the top starts to brown too quickly, cover loosely with a piece of foil for the remaining baking time.
Cool and Serve
Allow the barmbrack to cool in the tin for 15 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Resist the urge to slice while warm as the texture improves significantly once fully cooled. Serve in thick slices spread generously with cold salted butter alongside a pot of tea.
Substitutions
Common mistakes
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