Traditional Irish Barmbrack
Traditional Irish barmbrack is a sweetened bread studded with dried and candied fruits. It’s most famous for its connection to Halloween in Ireland.
Ingredients
Barmbrack:
- 1 ¼ cups whole milk, divided
- 2 teaspoons white sugar
- 1 packet instant or active dry yeast, 2 ¼ teaspoons
- 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon, see note on mixed spice
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground clove
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 ¼ cups raisins
- 1 ¼ cups golden raisins
- ¾ cup mixed peel, see note
Topping:
- 2-3 tablespoons honey, optional
Directions
Make the Dough:
- Start by heating 1 ¼ cups of whole milk. It should be warm but not scalding hot, anywhere between 90-110°F (32-43°C) is fine. Pour a ½ cup into another container and stir in the white sugar and sprinkle the yeast on top of that ½ cup whole milk. Give it a quick stir and set it aside for about 10 minutes to bloom.
- In the meantime, in a large mixing bowl add 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground allspice, ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon ground close, and ⅓ cup light brown sugar and whisk together. Slice the softened ¼ cup of unsalted butter into pieces and cut it into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or use your hands and rub it in until fully distributed.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment, add the flour and butter mixture. Once the yeast has bloomed, add this as well. Mix at low speed until the flour has absorbed most of the liquid.
- Finally, add 1 large egg to another ½ cup of the whole milk (you should have a ¼ cup left now) and whisk together. Pour this into the dough mixture and mix at low speed until combined. Turn speed up just one level and allow it to knead the dough for at least 5-8 minutes.
- If the dough seems a little dry after the first 2-3 minutes, you can add more of the whole milk a teaspoon or so at a time. This is a fairly wet dough, so it won’t be perfectly smooth and elastic, but should be solid enough to hold its shape.
First & Second Rise:
- If needed, pour the dough onto a floured work surface and finish kneading it by hand for a minute or two. It should still be a bit sticky but not so wet it looks like a batter. Lightly oil a large mixing bowl and place inside. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and allow it to rise until in a warm area doubled in size, at least 1 hour.
- Once doubled in size, punch down the dough and pour onto a floured work surface, adding some flour on top of the dough as well.
- Gently stretch the dough out into a large rectangle and add 1 ¼ cups raisins, 1 ¼ cups golden raisins, and ¾ cup mixed peel on top in an even layer. Fold the dough from one side into the middle, then the other side into the middle. Turn it 90 degrees and gently flatten back out and repeat this process 2-3 more times until the fruits are fully incorporated.
- If you plan on adding any trinkets to the bread, push them into the bottom of the dough after shaping it but before placing it into the springform pan.
- Prepare a 9” springform pan by greasing the sides and bottom with butter or a baking spray. Gently shape the dough into a large, round shape and transfer it into the springform pan. Press it down a bit and try to shape it to even fit the whole width of the pan. Cover again and let rise once more for another 45 minutes or so.
Baking & Serving:
- About half-way through the second rise, preheat your oven to 350°F / 180°C. Once risen, the dough should fill the pan and be poking just over the top of the pan. Place into the middle of the oven and cook until a toothpick comes out clean, roughly 1 hour.
- The top should be fairly dark, but if you feel it’s browning too fast, place some foil over the top. Once it is finished baking, remove it from the oven and leave it in the pan until cool enough to handle.
- Take 2-3 tablespoons of honey and place it into a heatproof bowl. Microwave on high for 15-20 seconds to make it thinner and easy to work with. As soon as you remove the barmbrack from the oven, brush the honey across the entire top. This gives it a nice sheen and sweetened flavor on top.
- Once cool enough to handle, remove the barmbrack from the springform pan. You can make long slices across the width of the bread, or just cut it in half, turn it cut side down and make slices down towards the cut side. This gives you more manageable pieces. Serve warm with a good cup of tea or coffee.
- For the best experience, however, let it cool completely and then toast slices and slather with some good Irish butter. If you do add trinkets, be certain to let everyone know when serving it.
Equipment Used
Notes
1) Mixed Spice – In Ireland, and other areas throughout the UK, they use a blend of spices called “mixed spice”. Since you’re not likely to find this outside of the UK, I use a combination of spices here to be close to mixed spice. The closest substitution in the US would be pumpkin pie spice, which is similar but not quite the same.
If you wish to make your own, a basic recipe would be 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, 1 tablespoon ground allspice, 1 tablespoon ground nutmeg, 2 teaspoons ground mace, 1 teaspoon ground clove, and 1 teaspoon ground ginger.
2) Mixed Peel – In Europe they have what is called “mixed peel” which is typically a candied mixture of lemon and orange peels, sometimes with other fruits added as well. In the US the closest substitute might be sold as candied fruit peel, holiday fruit, or fruitcake mix.
This can be difficult to find outside of the holiday season; however, you can make your own candied citrus peel or just use some lemon and orange zest instead (not ¾ cup worth though). If using zest, just zest 1 orange and 1 lemon, then consider adding more of the dried fruits or adding a cup of dried currants.
3) Where’s the Tea? – Soaking the fruits in tea is more common in tea brack but increasingly found in yeasted barmbracks as well. If you would like to do this brew 2 cups of strong Irish black tea, allow it to cool, then pour over the dried fruit and mixed peel in a bowl, cover, and leave out overnight. Alternatively, you can pour the tea over the fruit while hot and let it steep with the fruit for 1-2 hours. Be sure to drain and pat the fruit dry before adding it to the dough. Optionally, you can also add a few tablespoons of Irish whiskey to the tea.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 sliceCalories: 257kcalCarbohydrates: 53gProtein: 4gFat: 4gSaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 13mgSodium: 95mgPotassium: 255mgFiber: 2gSugar: 20gCalcium: 45mgIron: 2mg
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