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Ireland, Europe

Barmbrack

Ireland's Halloween fruit loaf: dried fruit soaked overnight in strong tea, baked into a moist, spiced, sliceable brack.

ServingsServes 2
Total cooking time1 h 30 min
Soaking and cooling+ 9 h
DifficultyEasy
About servingsTraditionally a ring or coin is hidden inside at Halloween. If you do this, wrap it in baking paper and tell everyone before they eat; leave it out for young children, as it is a choking hazard.

Method

  1. The night before, brew the tea strong and let it cool completely, then pour it over the dried fruit in a large bowl. Cover and leave at room temperature overnight (at least 8 hours). The fruit should be plump and have drunk almost all the tea.

    Add in this stepStrong black tea, cooled 200 mlMixed dried fruit (raisins, sultanas, currants) 300 g

  2. Preheat the oven to 170 °C for . Brush the loaf tin lightly with butter and line the base and two long sides with one strip of baking paper, leaving 2 cm hanging over so you can lift the loaf out later.

    Add in this stepButter (for the tin) 5 g

    oven

  3. Add the brown sugar and beaten egg to the soaked fruit, along with any tea left in the bowl, and stir well with a spoon.

    Add in this stepLight brown sugar 115 gEgg, beaten 1

  4. Sift in the flour, baking powder, mixed spice and salt and fold with a spatula, scooping up from the bottom. Stop as soon as no dry flour is visible; overmixing makes it tough. The batter is meant to be thick and packed with fruit.

    Add in this stepPlain flour 150 gBaking powder 1½ tspMixed spice ½ tspSalt 1 pinch

  5. Spoon the batter into the 20×10 cm tin, level the top and bake on the middle shelf of the oven at 170 °C for . It is done when the top is deep brown and a skewer pushed into the centre comes out with no wet batter. If the top darkens too quickly, lay a loose sheet of foil over it.

    oven

  6. Cool in the tin for , then lift it out by the paper and cool completely on a wire rack; cut while warm and it crumbles. Slice 1.5 cm thick, spread generously with butter and serve with a cup of tea.

    Add in this stepButter (to serve) 20 g

Cook's tip

Wrapped and left for a day, it becomes moister and easier to slice. Once it is a few days old, toast slices and butter them: many say that is the best way to eat it. Swap part of the tea for orange juice for a brighter flavour.

Cooking it at camp

Bake it at home and bring it wrapped: it keeps for 3–4 days at room temperature, which makes it an ideal camping snack. At the campsite, toast thick slices on a grill rack or in a pan and butter them.