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Barmbrack is a traditional Irish fruit cake, which I used to get in my school lunchbox
around Halloween every year. Traditionally, a ring is baked into the cake, and there
would be great excitement every year as to who would get the slice with the ring in it. I
always like to think it was Barmbrack that inspired the writers of Father Ted to come up
with the episode where Mrs. Doyle bakes a jumper into a cake! This recipe makes a
really beautiful, moist loaf, packed with flavour from the mixed spice and dried fruit,
which has sat overnight in cold tea and whiskey to soak up all the goodness.
Adapted by SGP to include All Bran.
Ingredients
375 g (13oz) packet of mixed dried fruit (may use 500 gms)
1 large egg
Method
1. Place the mixed dried fruit, with the All Bran, in a bowl and pour over the
whiskey and cold tea. Allow to soak up the liquid overnight.
2. Preheat the oven to 180C (350F/Gas 3). Grease and line a 900g (2lb) loaf tin.
3. Combine the flour, baking powder, sugar and mixed spice in a mixing bowl. Make a
well and break in the egg, then use a wooden spoon to mix it with the dry
ingredients. Add a little bit of the liquid from the mixed fruit and mix it through.
You may not need all the liquid, though you are looking for a wet dough.
4. Stir in the mixed fruit until everything is thoroughly combined. Add the ring and
stir through. Spoon the wet dough into the lined loaf tin, place on the middle
shelf in the oven, after 10 minutes turn down to 160C (Gas mark 3/325F),
and bake for another hour.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before removing from the loaf tin and
placing on wire rack. Cover in cling film and foil and allow to sit for 12 days before
cutting into it. Serve in slices, spread with a little butter and accompanied by a good
cuppa!
ALL BRAN FRUIT CAKE
Ingredients
Makes: 1 All-bran fruit loaf
E
140g (5 oz) soft brown sugar (could be 70 grams if prefer less sweet)
1 egg
Make up 1/2 pint of strong tea. Let the tea-bags soak for as long as possible so that it is
really strong. Put the fruit, brown sugar and marmalade (if using) into a bowl. I also
added glace cherries because my husband loves them.
Add the tea to the bowl (removing tea-bags first!), mix it all together so that the fruit is
covered by the liquid, then cover the bowl and leave to soak overnight.
The next morning, preheat the oven to 180C (Gas mark 4/350F). Grease a cake or loaf
tin, and line the base. I use a 20cm (8) round cake tin, but a slightly smaller one or any
other shape should be fine. Break the egg into the fruit/tea mix, and stir in, then add
the flour, stirring until it is completely mixed in. Tip the mixture into your prepared
cake tin.
Place in the preheated oven 180C (Gas mark 4/350F). After 10 minutes turn down to
160C (Gas mark 3/325F), and bake for another hour. Check with a skewer if it comes
out clean then it is ready, if not bake for up to 1/2 hour longer, checking every 10
minutes until the skewer comes out clean. Turn the cake out of the tin and leave to cool
on a wire rack.
This cake is best served cut into slices and buttered, although is also tasty without the
butter (and lower fat, obviously!). Kept in an airtight tin it will keep for ages, although I
cant be specific because ours never lasts very long! It would be a great thing to use as a
special treat in a healthy lunchbox.
BRAN BRACK IRISH TEA BREAD
This is a very old recipe the original of which my mother still has, written out in my
childhood handwriting. I was probably about eight, or so I seem to remember that it
came from the Girl Guides, but I might be wrong! It is called a Tea Bread: both made
with tea and eaten for tea. Bran Brack is also sometimes known as Bara Brith or Barm
Brack and before you ask, I know that bran is not listed below. (I havent missed an
ingredient from the original recipe when I typed it in!)
It is really important not to omit the soaking in tea, preferably overnight: essential for
re-hydrating and plumping up the dried fruit. Providing you have thought ahead and
done this Bran Brack is a simple and quick cake to make and is very moist with a high
proportion of dried mixed fruit. The quantity of fruit could be reduced but it is this
generous amount that makes Bran Brack so delicious. The tea needs to be fairly strong:
strain off tea left over in the teapot until there is enough to make a cake! I use a
standard, everyday tea: we drink Sainsburys Red Label (preferably the loose version)
which is Fairly Traded. (Substituting speciality teas could give a different flavour, but I
have not experimented with this alternative.) Butcher, Baker has a recipe for Bara Brith
including about 2tbsp marmalade, which sounds good, but have not tried it. A teaspoon
of mixed spice could also be added for flavour. It is worth doubling the quantity to make
a larger cake, or perhaps two cakes. Bran Brack keeps fairly well but once made it gets
eaten very quickly. Bran Brack is a fat free cake/tea loaf. It is, however, delicious
spread with butter, especially if eaten fresh and slightly warm. Please note that the
original quantities were written as Imperial measurements and the metric is as close as I
can get.