This Traditional Irish Barmbrack recipe is so easy, you’ll ask why you have never made it before. Tea steeped dried fruits, citrus, brown sugar and warm spices come together in a cake like manner, to make this Traditional Irish Barmbrack.
What is Barmbrack? Barmbrack is an Irish bread, sometimes called Bairín Breac, Bairín is Irish for loaf and Breac is Irish for speckled. This speckled loaf is commonly associated with Halloween in Ireland.
Barmbrack bread is a classic Irish quick bread, made with baking powder, and sometimes yeast. Baked in a cake tin, it is usually round in shape. A favorite in Ireland, served mid morning or afternoon. To complete this sweet treat, lashings of butter (Irish of course!) are needed.
Barmbrack Bread, a Tradition at Halloween.
Barmback was first sold commercially in Ireland around the 1880’s, but it was made in homes long before that. My family always bought it commercially made and pre sliced.
The dried fruit in this recipe is not the only thing that is steeped. The bread itself is steeped in tradition with a strong link to halloween. The speckled loaf is believed to have originated in County Meath, Ireland, in the Boyne Valley, where the annual ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced Sow-en) was held. (Bodkin, a comedy thriller available on Netflix is based around the Samhain festival!)
Barmbrack was made not only for sustenance, but also as a fortune telling tool. Charms, with various prophecies, were baked into the bread. Each charm foretold a different forecast for the days ahead. Scroll down for more info on charms.
Barmbrack Charms
In keeping with tradition, add little trinkets or charms to the Barmbrack cake batter before baking. Ensure these charms are clean and perhaps wrap them in some parchment paper. Warn children before they eat a slice, as charms are potential choking hazards.
Here’s a bit more info about the charms baked into a Barmbrack cake and what they stand for.
- A Pea: Is a sign of bad luck or that you will not marry that year.
- Stick: A sign you will always be beaten down in an unhappy marriage.
- Rag: Bad financial situation leading to poverty. For some, it might be a sign to become a nun as many nuns take a vow of poverty.
- Coin: Good fortune, prosperity or wealth in the coming year.
- Ring: A sign of love, romance and a pending marriage, as you will be wed within the year!
- Thimble: Is a sign of spinsterhood – that one will never marry.
- Matchstick: a turbulent love life will ensue for the coming year.
Barmbrack Ingredients
What is Irish Barmbrack made of? Here’s everything you’ll need:
- Flour: all purpose / plain. If using self raising, omit the baking powder. For a gluten free version, substitute AP flour with GF flour. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions regarding the substitution ratio.
- Sugar: use brown but substitute it with white if preferred. Use the same quantity.
- Dried fruit: I used currants and raisins.
- Orange: used for juice and zest.
- Eggs: whole.
- Tea: needed to steep the dried fruit. A couple of black teabags is sufficient.
- Baking powder: needed for leavening.
- Ground spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and clove.
- Marmalade: orange, used as a post baking glaze.
- Demerara sugar: for sprinkling over the baked Barmbrack.
These ingredients and the recipe that follows are similar to the Ballymaloe Barmbrack recipe. Darina Allen adds candied peel and glacé cherries to her recipe. This recipe omits them.
Barmbrack Recipe
While my Barmbrack lacks charms, it doesn’t last charm – enjoy!
Make hot tea. Remove the teabags, and pour the tea into a bowl.
Add dried fruit to the bowl.
Zest the orange, but sure not to include any of the bitter white pith.
Add the orange juice to the bowl. Cover this bowl with plastic wrap and allow it to sit on a counter top overnight.
The following day, pre-heat the oven to 320 degrees F / 160 degrees C. Then, sift the flour and baking powder into a separate dry bowl.
Add the spices.
Add the brown sugar.
Then remove the plastic wrap from the bowl of steeping fruit. Drain out the tea and catch it in a bowl.
Add the tea to the dry bowl.
Beat the eggs and add them to the bowl.
Add salt. (The best time to do this, is when the flour and baking powder are being sifted)
Finally, mix all the ingredients together, then transfer the bread batter into a well greased cake tin. I used oil and a silicone brush to grease the tin. Bake for about an hour to an hour and a half, or longer. Insert a thin wooden skewer into the center of the cake. If batter shows on the skewer, continue baking until the skewer is dry after being inserted.
When the Barmbrack has cooled, brush warm marmalade on top. Pre warming the marmalade makes it more pliable.
Sprinkle the Demerara sugar on top. It will stick easily to the loaf.
A Tip From Me
As this is a dense quick bread to make, I recommend baking this cake in a round shallow cake tin. It will cook more evenly and quicker than a deep rectangular loaf pan.
Got Questions?
I’ve got answers – hopefully!
Barmbrack is sliced and smeared with butter, preferably Irish butter. It is also eaten without butter. A cup of tea usually accompanies it.
Barmbrack will last for a couple of days, wrapped in plastic or foil and stored at room temperature. It will start to get stale by day 3. If that happens, toast Barmbrack slices. Store it in the refrigerator, to prolong the freshness of the bread for another couple of days. Serve it at room temperature.
Yes, Barmbrack freezes well. Wrap it in plastic wrap and freeze it for up to 3 months. Defrost it overnight in the refrigerator.
Additional Irish Recipes
There are many more recipes on this website that are traditionally Irish or loved by the Irish! Here’s a few:
Traditional Irish Barmbrack (Bairin Breac)
Ingredients
- 1 lb dried fruit I used about ⅔ raisins and ⅓ currants.
- 2 tea bags
- 1 orange used only for zest and juice
- 2 eggs
- 3 tsp baking powder
- ½ clove powder
- ½ ground cinnamon
- ¼ grated nutmeg
- ¼ ground ginger
- 1 lb flour
- 4 oz brown sugar
- 1 tbsp marmalade
- 1 tsp demerara sugar
Instructions
- Make hot tea by adding 10 oz of hot water to the two teabags. After 5 minutes remove the teabags, and pour the tea into a bowl.
- Add dried fruit to the bowl.
- Zest and juice the orange, but sure not to include any of the bitter white pith.
- Cover this bowl with plastic wrap and allow it to sit on a counter top overnight.
- The following day, pre-heat the oven to 320 degrees F / 160 degrees C. Then, sift the flour and baking powder into a separate dry bowl.
- Add the spices and brown sugar.
- Then remove the plastic wrap from the bowl of steeping fruit. Drain out the tea and catch it in a bowl.
- Add the tea to the dry bowl.
- Beat the eggs and add them to the bowl.
- Add salt (it's best to do this when the flour and baking powder are being sifted, but better late than never.)
- Finally, mix all the ingredients together, then transfer the fruit batter into a well greased cake tin. I used oil and a silicone brush to grease the tin. Bake for about an hour to an hour and a half, or longer. Insert a thin wooden skewer into the center of the cake. If batter shows on the skewer, continue baking until the skewer is dry after being inserted.
- When the Barmbrack has cooled, brush warm marmalade on top. Pre warming the marmalade makes it more pliable.
- Sprinkle the Demerara sugar on top. It will stick easily to the loaf.
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