Baking barmbrack with Michelle Darmody
BARMBRACK is a truly Irish cake. Traditionally it is a fruit cake that can tell your fortune; the ring announces an upcoming wedding, finding a piece of cloth foretells poverty, find the thimble and you are destined to be a spinster and the button a bachelor, but the pea or the coin signal plenty.
Most bakeries do not add so many items these days, mainly for health and safety reasons. The ring is the one tradition that seems to have lasted. You can get a lovely brack in Hickeys Bakery in Clonmel, and they still add the ring at this time of year.
If you are making bracks at home take care when adding your treasures, wrapping them in a piece of baking parchment can help your guests identify them more easily. With or without the old appendages bracks are rich, spicy and comforting, perfect with a milky cup of tea on an autumnal evening.
There is speculation over where the ‘barm’ section of the name comes from, some think it is a version of the Irish word for bread ‘arán’ but there seems little doubt that ‘brack’ stands for ‘speckled’ which makes for logical naming, speckled bread. The rich loafs are flecked with a selection of the dried fruits and peel. Historically at this time of year families would have begun to store preserved fruits for the Christmas period. Perhaps these bracks were a treat before the Christmas baking began.
Some bracks you buy from larger bakeries use yeast but I have included recipes without yeast. I tend to use this quicker method for baking bracks because it is easier to get right and it gives good results. The loaves are rich and moist and last quite well in an airtight box for a few days. You can toast the brack under a grill and serve it warm with melted butter, particularly if it begins to go stale. This is a special treat in its own right.
For those of you who find a brack a bit rich and heavy there is a recipe for a lighter fruit cake included.
Whiskey brack
Mix the dried fruit and zest together and add the tea, juice and whiskey. Place into a large bowl and cover with clingfilm. Leave to stand over night or for at least three hours.
The next day preheat your oven to 180 degrees and line a 2lb loaf tin with parchment.
Add the flour, sugar and spices to the fruit and stir everything well. Stir in the eggs and combine the mixture completely. Scoop it into the lined tin.
Bake for 50 minutes then test it with a skewer; it may need another ten minutes or so. While it is still warm brush the honey over the top. Allow to cool in the tin.
Nutty tea brack with sour cherries
For the nicest results it is best to soak the fruit overnight in the tea until it all becomes soft and plump.
The next day preheat your oven to 180 degrees and line a 2lb loaf tin with baking parchment.
Add the egg, sugar, flour, spices, brandy, yogurt and most of the nuts to the fruit and mix with a wooden spoon.
Scoop into the prepared tin and flatten the mixture. Sprinkle the rest of nuts on top of the brack and bake for and hour and 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
While it is still warm brush the honey over the top.
Allow to cool in the tin.
Light fruit cake
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees and line a 2lb loaf tin with baking parchment.
Cream the butter and sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy and pale in colour. Slowly add in the eggs, if the mixture begins to separate add a tablespoon of the flour. Once the eggs are added then add your flour a third at a time. Add in the milk and the ground almonds until a smooth batter is formed. Add the essence if you are using it.
Stir in the peel, raisins and half of the cherries. Scoop the mixture into your prepared tin and then sprinkle the rest of the cherries on top. Pat them down so they submerge into the batter.
Bake for 50 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool in the tin.
