It's getting closer to Halloween, and I'm starting to gather the ingredients I'm going to need for this year's menu. As usual, I am making barmbrack, a type of dry fruit-filled bread of Irish origins. Traditionally, the finished loaf would have small objects hidden inside, and the communal eating of the bread would be a sort of fortune-telling game: finding the ring meant the finder would be married within the year; a coin meant riches, etc.
The name barmbrack is derived from the Irish words bairín - a loaf - and breac - speckled, probably due to the raisins and other bits of dried fruit in it, giving it a spotted appearance when sliced.
Here's the recipe I've used for quite a few years. This version is a quick bread, so there's no fucking around with yeast or rise times. Just simple ingredients, a little time and skill, and you'll have a fantastic loaf. It also has a great shelf life as long as it's properly covered (just as tasty 2 weeks later), and it also freezes well.
- 2 ½ cups chopped dried mixed fruit
[I used a mix of different raisins, dried cranberries, dried apricots, dried apples, dried dates, dried cherries, and whatever else I feel like putting in - I make sure to cut up the larger fruits into roughly raisin-size] - 1 ½ cups hot brewed Irish breakfast tea
- A splash of Irish whiskey (optional)
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 egg
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- ¼ cup apricot preserves or orange marmelade
- 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
Directions
- Soak the dried fruit in the hot tea (& whiskey, if using) for 2 hours; do not drain the fruit.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9 inch Bundt pan.
- Stir together the flour cinnamon, nutmeg, and baking soda; set aside.
- Whisk together the egg, sugar, preserves, and orange zest until well combined. Stir in the tea-soaked fruit and its liquid. Gently fold in the flour until just combined, then pour into the prepared Bundt pan.
- Bake in preheated oven for about 1 hour or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 2 hours before removing. If adding fortune telling objects, wrap each one in a small piece of wax paper and press the objects into the fully cooled cake through the bottom before serving.
It makes a fairly thick batter. The original recipe calls for the tea-soaked fruit to be drained, but it has resulted in a much too dry batter and loaf in my experience. It might seem like a lot of liquid, but it will come out great, trust me.
Perfection. It makes the whole house smell warm and cozy, too.
It's fantastic with tea, or coffee, or hot cider, or whatever.
It's good warm or room temperature.
It's great with real butter, but also great without.
Basically, it's a fantastic fucking bread, try it!
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Bonus round -- Here are some of the supposed metaphysical properties of the ingredients:
Liquids:
(Tea and whiskey, two drinks with significance to Irish ancestors)
(Tea and whiskey, two drinks with significance to Irish ancestors)
Tea: was considered an elixir of immortality by Chinese Taoists in 500 BC, and Asians have always treated its preparation as part of a sacred ceremony. Tea is thought to combat drowsiness while encouraging a Zen-like meditative state that allows one to “return to the Source.”
Whiskey: Liquors unite the feminine powers of water with the earthy essences of various fruits, vegetables, and grains by invoking a fiery “spirit” that we now call alcohol.
Fruits:
Apricot: Apricots carry feminine spiritual energy and are used to sweeten someone’s disposition or instill romance and passion in a relationship.
Cherry: have long been associated with feminine energy and divination and are used in spells throughout the world to attract suitors and discern the future.
Cranberry: provide protective energy and fight off negative influences.
Apple: known as the Fruit of the Gods, is a very powerful source of spiritual energy that encourages balance and harmony. The Wiccan Feast of Apples is celebrated on Samhain (Halloween), and in ancient Greece and Rome, apples were eaten at Diana’s Festival (August 13). If cut horizontally, the apple reveals the pentagram pattern, which is considered the gateway to occult powers as well as symbol of the quintessence. The Egyptians offered apples to their highest and most powerful priests, whom they considered guardians of hidden knowledge. In the Middle Ages, sliced apples were used to foretell the future and eating them regularly was said to enable a person to live over 200 years.
Raisin (Grape): carry spiritual energy and increase mental fertility, opening us to meaningful dreams and visions.
Dates: were considered sacred in Babylon and Greece, and the Hebrews made syrup from them as an offering to God. The fruits were also used by ancient Persians to celebrate the death and resurrection of Zoroaster, a Christ figure who dates back to 500 BC. Dried dates are considered fruits of the spiritual realm and are symbolic of the eternal resurrection of the soul.
Spices:
Cinnamon: is thought to increase spirituality and psychic insight by stimulating the Crown Chakra. The tree must grow for eight years before its thick bark is mature enough to be harvested. Cinnamon oil was used in the mummification process by the Egyptians and was applied as a holy anointing oil in ancient Hebrew rituals. Cinnamon was also sacred to the Greek god of ecstasy, Dionysus. When it is burned as incense or added to foods, cinnamon raises spiritual energy to a higher level.
Nutmeg: said to promote health and fidelity and attract good fortune, nutmegs were stuffed into Egyptian mummies and carried as lucky charms in Europe.
Other ingredients:
Egg: invokes primordial mysteries. Several psychologists have noted that our feelings about eggs predate any religious or magical tradition.
Flour (Wheat): is the most revered of the Seven Sacred Grains and represents fruitfulness, bounty, and rebirth. Because wheat fields seem to replenish themselves, the golden plant represented a cycle of resurrection into light again. Many funeral rites contain offerings of wheat as part of the ceremonies. Wheat was sacred to the Babylonian god Ishtar, the Egyptian Osiris, the Greek Demeter, and the Roman Ceres.
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Recipe adapted from: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/162072/irish-barmbrack
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barmbrack
https://www.alchemylab.com/guideto.htm
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