Traditional Irish Halloween Barmbrack

As the Home of Halloween, Samhain (pronounced Sow-en) is a spooky time in Ireland. With Celtic roots, this ancient festival is marked in Ireland with creepy stories about mean spirited fairies, banshees and vampires, and parties with tasty treats and fortune telling.

Irish fortune telling at Halloween

Samhain marked the beginning of the new year for the ancient Irish, with many people turning to fortune telling to find out what the year ahead would hold. Many older forms of divination and fortune telling are no longer commonplace. But Barmbrack still remains as a widely practiced, nationwide Samhain tradition in Ireland.

Barmbrack Ireland's fortune telling food

Barmbrack (bairín breac in gaelic) is Ireland's treasured fortunetelling fruitcake. Roughly translated as "speckled bread," Barmbrack is a rich and dense sweat loaf made with lots of dried fruit soaked in tea or whiskey depending on taste!

What will you find in a Barmbrack?

So how does it tell your fortune I hear you ask? Dried fruit is not the only thing you will find in this bread! When a barmbrack is shared out and traditionally served with hot tea and a good spread of butter, everyone waits in anticipation to see what they'll find in their slice — a stick, a pea, or even a silver ring? What you find foretells your fortune in the coming year.

What do the objects in Barmbrack Mean?

Each object had different implications for you for the coming year so it is good to take note of what they mean!

• Find A Pea: Bad Luck! You will definitely not marry for another year
• Find A Coin: Congratulations! You will enjoy great fortune in the coming year
• Find A Matchstick: Oh Dear! For the next 12 months your love life will be filled with strife
• Find A Rag: Also Not Good! You will have ill fortune this year
• Find A Silver Ring: Good News! You will be wed before the year is out

How to make your own Barmbrack

It seems there is no one in Ireland that doesn't enjoy a barmbrack. Nostalgia might have something to do with it but it is pretty tasty and quite a bit of fun too! They’re available in almost every Irish bakery.

But most shop bought Barmbrack will only have a small toy ring. If you want the full effect, you can make your own Barmbrack at home. Recipes typically use either yeast or baking soda as the raising agent - we prefer baking soda as it is easier to work with and usually gives a perfect result even for novice bakers!

Barmbrack Ingredients to make 1 x 900g loaf

• 225g plain flour
  
• 2 tsps of baking powder
• 375g packet of mixed dried fruit (raisins, currents, sultanas - whatever you like really)
• 250ml tea (the stronger the better - (Irish or English breakfast tea works best)
• 50ml of whiskey or an extra 50 ml of tea if you prefer to skip the dram
• 125g light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 tsp of mixed spice (equal parts allspice, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg) - NOT the same as Allspice!
• A silver ring, a dried pea, a coin, a matchstick and a small bit of cloth all securely wrapped up in greaseproof paper

Method

1. Place the dried fruit in a bowl and cover with tea and whiskey if you are using. Leave to soak overnight and keep the liquid! The fruit should plump up overnight absorbing the liquid

2. The following day, preheat the oven to 170C/340°/Gas Mark 3, and grease and line a 900g loaf tin.

3. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl making sure the flour, baking powder, sugar and mixed spice are all evenly distributed.

4. Mix the egg into your dried ingredients.

5. Add a little bit of the liquid that you left the dried fruit soaking in and stir into the egg and flour mixture. Keep adding liquid in small amounts until you have a relatively wet dough (protip -you might not need all of the liquid!).

6. Now add in the fruit until everything is thoroughly combined.

7. Spoon the wet dough into the lined loaf tin push the objects wrapped up with greaseproof paper into the dough at different points in the cake. You want different slices to have a chance to find a "prize."

8. Place the cake in the oven on the middle shelf and bake for one hour.

9. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before turning out your loaf onto a wire rack.

10. Once cool, gather friends or family around to slice it up, and serve spread with a generous spread of butter and nice hot cup of tea for the fortune telling fun to begin! If you have leftovers (unlikely), they will keep in a tin for up to a week and are delicious toasted ans served with melted butter.

Continuing Celtic Traditions

Let us know if you decide to try out this tasty Irish Samhain tradition and make your own Barmbrack this Halloween. And if you want to up the stakes, we have plenty of Sterling Silver Irish Rings to bake in your cake (just make sure to wrap the ring in grease proof paper first!).