Barmbrack: Ireland's Halloween treat

Over 2,000 years ago, the Celts in Ireland celebrated the festival of Samhain, marking the end of the harvest season and the start of the long winter. This was a time when the boundary between the living and the dead was believed to be at its thinnest – a time when wayward spirits roamed the earth. To protect themselves, people wore costumes and masks to conceal their identities and lit great bonfires to ward off the darkness. 

But it was also a time of feasting, play and plenty. The harvest was over and stores of fruit and grains had been put away for the winter. With the surplus, people enjoyed harvest games like blindfolded cabbage picking, apple bobbing and “snap apple”. As with other Samhain traditions, the outcomes of these games were often believed to predict the future, offering a glimpse of life beyond the dark, uncertain days of winter.

The humble barmbrack perfectly embodies that desire of our ancestors to bring a sense of hope and excitement to the changing seasons. A yeast bread sweetened with dried fruit, it gets its name from the Irish word “breac” (meaning “speckled”), which refers to the fruit dotted throughout the dough, and “barm” – a yeast-rich foam formed on fermenting ale.

Barmbrack is famous for the symbolic objects or charms that are added to the mixture before baking, each one predicting the future of the person who discovers it in their slice. Traditionally, every loaf had up to six charms hidden in it, some less welcome than others. You’ll still find some of them in the barmbracks you can buy in shops at Halloween.

• Ring: you’ll be married within a year
• Dried pea: you won’t be married within the year
• Thimble or button: you’ll remain single forever
• Matchstick: your marriage won’t be a happy one
• Coin: you’ll enjoy a lifetime of wealth
• Piece of cloth: you’ll endure a lifetime of bad luck or poor health

In the past, religious medals could also be found in barmbracks, predicting a life in Holy Orders.

Barmbrack remains a Halloween favourite in Ireland and even now we examine our slices to see what the future may hold for us. It can be served fresh from the oven or toasted, depending on your taste. But there’s one thing that everyone agrees on: your slice MUST be loaded with real Irish butter, like Kerrygold.

If you want to make your own this Halloween, try this tasty traditional recipe.

For the fruit mix:

• 350g (1½ cups) sultanas
• 50ml (¼ cup) Bushmills whiskey
• Warm tea (enough to cover the sultanas)
• 1 lemon, juiced and zested

For the dough:

• 450g (2 cups) strong bread flour
• A pinch of salt
• 15g (1tbsp) dried yeast
• 280ml (9.5fl oz) milk, at room temperature
• 50g (3½tbsp) Kerrygold butter, softened
• 50g (3½tbsp) sugar
• 1 egg, beaten

For the topping:

• 1tbsp Kerrygold butter
• 1tsp ground cinnamon
• ½tsp ground mixed spice

1. Soak the sultanas in the whiskey, warm tea and lemon juice for 30-45 minutes, then drain off the liquid.
2. To make the dough: put all the ingredients into a mixing bowl and bring together with a wooden spoon.
3. Knead on a floured surface with your hands for 5 minutes.
4. Put the dough in a bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and leave for about 1 hour, until the mixture has risen and fills the bowl.
5. Knead the dough again on a floured surface, adding the soaked fruit until evenly spread throughout.
6. Place in a 20-23cm buttered cake tin and cover with a damp tea towel.
7. Leave in a warm place for about 20 minutes until the mixture rises up to the top of the tin.
8. Bake for 50 minutes in oven preheated to 200C.
9. For the topping: cream the butter and spices together until soft.
10. Remove the barmbrack from the oven. Immediately spread spiced butter on top. Leave to cool.

Interested in discovering some of the more modern ways of baking and serving brack? Check out chef Graham Herterich’s cookbook, Bake: Traditional Irish Baking with Modern Twists, where he dedicates a whole chapter to “Brack and Butter”.