See the recipe for Tea Brack or Brack, this bit is just for fun!
Barmbrack is the center of an Irish Halloween custom. The Halloween Brack traditionally contained various objects baked into the bread and was used as a sort of fortune-telling game. In the barmbrack were: a pea, a stick, a piece of cloth, a small coin (originally a silver sixpence) and a ring. Each item, when received in the slice, was supposed to carry a meaning to the person concerned: the pea, the person would not marry that year; the stick, "to beat one's wife with", would have an unhappy marriage or continually be in disputes; the cloth or rag, would have bad luck or be poor; the coin, would enjoy good fortune or be rich; and the ring, would be wed within the year. Commercially produced barmbracks for the Halloween market still include a toy ring.
The Sign of the Cross
Irish Soda Bread, both White and Brown is traditionally made by hand in a round shape. A deep cross is cut through the bread, before cooking, to let the fairies out!
Brack
This is a basic recipe for Brack or Tea Brack. If you are making Barmbrack for halloween, check out this post on all the extra ingredients you'll need!
Ingredients:
Directions:
Soak the dried fruit overnight in weak tea, for an authentic taste - hence the name "Tea Brack"
Warm the milk a little, then stir the yeast and one teaspoon of the sugar into two tablespoonfuls of the milk, and let rise for ten minutes.
Melt the butter and let it cool.
Sift the flour, the allspice and the salt into a bowl, and add the rest of the sugar. Pour in the rest of the milk, and the yeast mixture as before.
Beat the egg with a fork, mix with the butter, add to the bowl, stir a little, and knead the mixture for 5 minutes until the dough is elastic and no longer sticks to the bowl. Cover with a wet cloth and let rise in a warm place for one hour.
Dry the mixed peel and fruit, chop the mixed peel up into small sections, roll in a little flour, add the mixed peel and the fruit and knead the mixture vigorously.
Butter a baking tin and spread the mixture evenly into it. Leave to rise for 30 minutes.
Heat the oven to 220°C, put the mixture in to bake for 25 minutes, then reduce the heat to 190 °C and bake a little longer.
Let the barmbrack repose for 15 minutes after taking it out of the oven before extracting it from the tin, and allow to cool thoroughly before cutting. Serve with tea and butter.
Ingredients:
- 250 g of white flour
- 15g of dried baker's yeast
- 50 g of fine white sugar
- 1 fl of warm milk
- half a teaspoon of allspice or mixed cinnamon and nutmeg
- half a teaspoon of salt
- 1 small egg
- 50g of unsalted butter
- 50g of mixed peel
- 60g of mixed raisins and sultanas.
Directions:
Soak the dried fruit overnight in weak tea, for an authentic taste - hence the name "Tea Brack"
Warm the milk a little, then stir the yeast and one teaspoon of the sugar into two tablespoonfuls of the milk, and let rise for ten minutes.
Melt the butter and let it cool.
Sift the flour, the allspice and the salt into a bowl, and add the rest of the sugar. Pour in the rest of the milk, and the yeast mixture as before.
Beat the egg with a fork, mix with the butter, add to the bowl, stir a little, and knead the mixture for 5 minutes until the dough is elastic and no longer sticks to the bowl. Cover with a wet cloth and let rise in a warm place for one hour.
Dry the mixed peel and fruit, chop the mixed peel up into small sections, roll in a little flour, add the mixed peel and the fruit and knead the mixture vigorously.
Butter a baking tin and spread the mixture evenly into it. Leave to rise for 30 minutes.
Heat the oven to 220°C, put the mixture in to bake for 25 minutes, then reduce the heat to 190 °C and bake a little longer.
Let the barmbrack repose for 15 minutes after taking it out of the oven before extracting it from the tin, and allow to cool thoroughly before cutting. Serve with tea and butter.
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