Rookie Pan
← All recipes
Ireland, Europe · Barmbrack

Traditional Yeasted Barmbrack with Whiskey-Soaked Fruit

The bakery-style brack: fruit and peel soaked in tea and Irish whiskey, worked into a buttery spiced yeast dough, risen twice and glazed with sugar syrup.

ServingsServes 2
Total cooking time1 h 10 min
Soaking and rising+ 4 h
DifficultyHard
About servingsMost of the whiskey's alcohol bakes off, but some may remain. If you follow the tradition of hiding a ring, wrap it in baking paper and tell everyone beforehand; it is a choking hazard for young children.

Method

  1. Put the dried fruit and peel in a bowl, pour over the hot tea and whiskey, stir, cover and leave for at least 2 hours, ideally overnight. Just before using, drain off any liquid in a sieve and pat the fruit dry with kitchen paper; wet fruit makes a sticky, heavy dough.

    Add in this stepMixed dried fruit (raisins, sultanas, currants) 200 gCandied mixed peel, chopped 30 gHot strong black tea 80 mlIrish whiskey 20 ml

  2. Warm the milk and butter in a small pan over low heat for , until the butter melts. Let it cool until it feels just warm to your finger (about 37 °C); too hot and it kills the yeast.

    Add in this stepMilk 150 mlButter 30 g

    low heat

  3. In a large bowl, mix the flour, yeast, sugar, mixed spice and salt (keep the salt and yeast on opposite sides at first), then add the warm milk mixture and the egg and bring together into a dough. Knead on the worktop for , stretching and folding, until smooth and springy. It is ready when a small piece stretches thin enough to see light through without tearing. A slightly tacky dough is right; use as little extra flour as you can.

    Add in this stepStrong bread flour 250 gInstant dried yeast 1 tspCaster sugar 30 gMixed spice 1 tspSalt ½ tspEgg, beaten ½

  4. Shape the dough into a ball, put it in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and leave somewhere warm for , until doubled in size. When you poke it, the dent should spring back slowly.

  5. Butter the tin. Press the air out of the dough, pat it into a rough rectangle, scatter over the drained fruit, then fold and knead gently just until the fruit is spread through. Shape into a log and lay it seam-side down in the 20×10 cm tin.

    Add in this stepButter (for the tin) 5 g

  6. Cover loosely and leave somewhere warm for , until the dough has risen 1–2 cm above the rim of the tin. About 20 minutes before it is ready, preheat the oven to 190 °C.

    oven

  7. Bake in the oven at 190 °C for . It is done when the top is deep brown and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped (at least 93 °C in the centre). The fruit makes the top colour fast, so cover it loosely with foil if it darkens too soon.

    oven

  8. While it bakes, stir the glaze sugar and boiling water in a small pan over medium heat for until dissolved. Turn the loaf out as soon as it comes out of the oven, brush it with the hot syrup for a glossy finish, and cool completely on a wire rack.

    Add in this stepCaster sugar (for the glaze) 1 tbspBoiling water (for the glaze) 1 tbsp

    medium heat

Cook's tip

For no alcohol, replace the whiskey with more tea. Add the fruit after the first rise, not at the start, so it doesn't cut through the gluten and the loaf rises well. In a cool kitchen rising can take up to 1.5 times longer, so go by the size of the dough, not the clock.

Cooking it at camp

Both rising and baking need steady warmth, so this is hard to make from scratch at a campsite. Bake it at home, then toast thick slices in a pan and butter them on site. With a Dutch oven you can bake the risen dough in a lined pot with coals below and on the lid.