Michelle Darmody: Cranberry barmbrack is a delicious twist on a Halloween tradition

And pumpkin and cinnamon cookies that are ideal for trick or treaters

Cranberries are a delicious addition to brack. 

The name barmbrack comes from the Irish name báirín breac, meaning ‘speckled loaf’ — the speckles being the dried fruit dotted in the cake. There are a few versions of this traditional Halloween bake; some have a yeast-based dough and others a heavier, denser crumb, more like a tea brack. The latter is quicker to make in a home kitchen.

If you have pumpkin flesh leftover after you carve a jack-o-lantern these cookies are a good option to bake. Butternut squash can also be used. Increasingly pumpkins epitomise Halloween but there are older food traditions such as apple bobbing or the addition of fortune-telling trinkets to the brack. Objects were added while stirring up the dough and if you found one buried in your slice, it told you what to expect for the year ahead: a pea for those who will not marry, a rag for the cash-strapped; a ring for those who are about to be wed.