Top eight: The best barmbracks for Halloween

Roz Crowley does a taste test on eight barmbracks ahead of Halloween

Picture: Stock image 

WITH door-to-door visits unlikely this year, one of the best parts of Halloween may well be the celebration of Ireland’s traditional barmbrack (bairm breac). Originally made with the drawn off yeast from fermenting malt (bairm), nowadays it’s made from bakers’ yeast.

In the past, flour was enriched with an egg, milk and butter, but bracks in large bakeries have oils (often Irish rapeseed, but also palm oil — often imported from areas with little consideration for the environment). The result is a less interesting flavour and texture. Breac in Irish means speckled which comes from further enrichment and sweetening with dried fruit — sultanas, raisins, mixed peel (sometimes soaked in tea or alcohol) — and flavoured with mixed spice.

Without added preservatives, bracks can have a shelf life of a month if they have enough dried fruit. The less fruity will go stale sooner, unless laden with additives. We noted in many of the mass-produced bracks, the addition of the chemical sodium carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), a cost-saving replacement for fats. Given a choice, I’d prefer to have butter in my food.

This year we found only rings added to bracks, not the more menacing rag, stick, pea, cloth and hopeful coin that have their own stories. Local bakeries make bracks a week or two ahead of Halloween, so could not be included here.

Have a deliciously spooky Halloween.

Hickeys Clonmel 600g/1150g €7/50/€9.95

After Mary Berry’s wholesome endorsement on her recent Simple Comforts television programme, we had to try this brack. All tasters agreed it was the best they had ever tasted. A high 43% plump sultanas and 5% cherries with natural crumb flavour resulted in our rare full mark. The list of ingredients is short, but shelf life long due to the quantity of fruit. Includes ring. Available nationwide, all year, see stockists/mailorder: hickeysbakery.com

Score: 10

Lynch’s Bakery Macroom 750g €4.75

A decently short list of ingredients includes wheat and soya flours, sultanas, mixed peel, margarine, yeast, salt. This will appeal to those who like a light amount of fruit. A dense bread texture makes it good for toasting. Best eaten fresh. Celebrating 150 years, this bakery supplies shops within an 18-mile radius of the bakery – O’Brien’s Bishopstown, Costcutter, petrol stations, some SuperValu and Dunnes stores.

Score: 8

Tesco Finest 454g €2

With 30% sultanas, 7% large, plump raisins, 2.5% cherries, 1.5% mixed peel, this nudges way past supermarket mid scorers. There are still additives, but good to see brown sugar, egg and butter instead of substitutes. And there’s whiskey too which is not discernible, except perhaps to add to the richness of flavour which was liked by tasters. With ring, made in Northern Ireland.

Score: 8.25

Harringtons of Kenmare 800g €4.45

At 12% sultanas and unspecified peel quantity, fruit here is low, but the crumb has eggs and sugar and is yeasty and tasty. There is also palm oil (no source is given), rapeseed oil and soya flour. The label says no preservatives, but there other chemicals in the form of emulsifiers. Tasters liked its lightness. No ring. From some SuperValu stores. We bought in Donovan’s petrol station, Leemount Cross, Cork.

Score: 8

Lidl Connell Bakery 440g 85c

Sultanas and raisins 16% each and 2% mixed peel adds up to a decent amount of fairly plump fruit. Soya flour added to wheat flour adds the springy feel. Invert sugar syrup and dextrose instead of regular sugar gives it a slightly less natural sweetness but tasters liked it quite well. Best value of the mass-produced selection. Contains ring.

Score: 6.75

Rankin 470g €3

A light coloured brack with 31% sultanas, it also has mixed peel which dominates the flavour with a hint of ginger. Rapeseed oil and palm oil (no source is given) keep it moist, no enriching eggs, instead a list of emulsifiers, thickeners and stabilisers for long shelf life. Made by Irwin’s bakery in Co Armagh. Pleasant, but not special, was the verdict. From supermarkets. No ring.

Score: 6.5

Dunnes 454g €1

Like many of our samples, this is produced in Co Armagh, with a lowish 26% sultanas and 3% mixed peel which keeps the price down. Additives replace more expensive eggs, butter and milk for richness. Mixed spices, ground ginger, cinnamon add some depth. Contains ring.

Score: 6.5

Old Mill Best Brack 400g €4.70

Percentages of sultanas and mixed peel are not given, but there is an average amount in quite a dry textured crumb. There are eggs, rapeseed oil and palm fat (no source is given), but still the crumb is not rich. Best toasted, we bought in SuperValu.

Score: 6