Irish Barm Brack / Tea Brack Bread Recipe – #BreadBakers

Good luck breads – This was the theme for this month at Bread Bakers. Though I have known breads made especially for celebrations, good luck breads were new. So I went and read about them and was so thrilled to have known about them. Certain breads baked on celebrations are said to bring good luck the whole year and we are to find such traditional recipes for the event. We can even bake breads in the shape of horseshoe or piglets which are also considered to bring good fortune. I chanced upon this Irish bread which is made for Halloween. While kneading the dough, usually the baker adds some trinkets, which when found will bring luck to the finder. Usually coin, ring, pea, a stick and a piece of cloth are added. While ring foretold marriage, coin is supposed to bring riches. But the pea, cloth or stick are not considered to bring fortune, but they predict misfortune. So they are mostly avoided. Coin and ring would be placed inside a foil and added to the dough while shaping. It was really interesting to read about it and I remembered the Agatha Christie short stories on Christmas puddings.

Barm Brack also called as tea brack or Barmbrack, is a bread loaded with black and golden raisins and is such a dense bread which also reminds me of Christmas. Every family has their own recipe. Barm Brack literally means speckled loaf because of the raisins added. I added dried cranberries as well as glazed cherries in the dough. Add any nut or dry fruit you wish to add, but don’t skip the raisins. This bread was made early in December 2018, before my resolutions, so it is made with maida. But you can also use wheat flour to make the recipe. The bread was wonderful and so flavourful. I didn’t add any trinkets in it, but if you are making it for a party, do add them. It would be so much fun. The raisins are soaked in dark tea overnight for a deep flavour. And I used ghee instead of melted butter. You can choose to use any according to your liking.

Ingredients:

All Purpose Flour / Maida – 300 gm

Brown Sugar – 50 gm

Instant Yeast – 1 1/4 tsp

Milk – 1/2 cup

Salt – 1/4 tsp

Ghee – 60 gm

For The Fruit Mix:

Golden Raisins – 1/2 cup

Black Raisins – 1/2 cup

Water – 2 1/4 cups

Tea – 2 tbs

Glazed Cherry – 3 tbs

Dried Cranberry – 3 tbs

Procedure:

Bring water to boil and add tea. Let the mix boil on low flame for five minutes.

Remove from flame and set it aside to cool down.

Pour it over a strainer and take the strong tea in a bowl.

To that add the raisins and cover and set aside overnight.

The next day, drain the tea and add cranberries and glazed cherries to the plumped up raisins.

In a bowl mix together flour, sugar, salt and yeast.

Add ghee and mix well together.

Add in the raisins and fruits and mix well.

Finally add in the milk and start kneading the dough.

At first it might seem crumbly, but after kneading for a while it will come together.

Cover and set it aside for 1 hour or more until the dough is double in volume.

Preheat oven to 180°C.

Punch down the dough and roll t into a tight log.

Place it in a lined and greased loaf tin.

Cover and set aside for 15 minutes.

Now, place the tin in oven and bake the bread for 45 – 55 minutes.

After ten minutes of baking, I covered the bread with an aluminium foil tent and removed it for the final 10 minutes.

I also brushed the top of the loaf with a ginger syrup for the last ten minutes to give the loaf a nice glaze.

Remove from oven and let it sot for ten minutes on counter.

Remove the loaf from the tin and allow it to cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

Irish Barm Brack / Tea Brack Bread Recipe

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course Breads

Cuisine British, Irish

Servings 1 Loaf

Ingredients

  

• All Purpose Flour / Maida - 300 gm
• Brown Sugar - 50 gm
• Instant Yeast - 1 1/4 tsp
• Milk - 1/2 cup
• Salt - 1/4 tsp
• Ghee - 60 gm
• For The Fruit Mix:
• Golden Raisins - 1/2 cup
• Black Raisins - 1/2 cup
• Water - 2 1/4 cups
• Tea - 2 tbs
• Glazed Cherry - 3 tbs
• Dried Cranberry - 3 tbs

Instructions

 

• Bring water to boil and add tea. Let the mix boil on low flame for five minutes.
• Remove from flame and set it aside to cool down.
• Pour it over a strainer and take the strong tea in a bowl.
• To that add the raisins and cover and set aside overnight.
• The next day, drain the tea and add cranberries and glazed cherries to the plumped up raisins.
• In a bowl mix together flour, sugar, salt and yeast.
• Add ghee and mix well together.
• Add in the raisins and fruits and mix well.
• Finally add in the milk and start kneading the dough.
• At first it might seem crumbly, but after kneading for a while it will come together.
• Cover and set it aside for 1 hour or more until the dough is double in volume.
• Preheat oven to 180°C.
• Punch down the dough and roll t into a tight log.
• Place it in a lined and greased loaf tin.
• Cover and set aside for 15 minutes.
• Now, place the tin in oven and bake the bread for 45 - 55 minutes.
• After ten minutes of baking, I covered the bread with an aluminium foil tent and removed it for the final 10 minutes.
• I also brushed the top of the loaf with a ginger syrup for the last ten minutes to give the loaf a nice glaze.
• Remove from oven and let it sot for ten minutes on counter.
• Remove the loaf from the tin and allow it to cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the #BreadBakers home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send Stacy an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com.

This month, the Bread Bakers are making Good Luck Breads, a theme chosen by Felice from All That’s Left Are The Crumbs.

And don’t forget to check out all the amazing breads baked by our talented bakers ~

• Buttermilk Cornbread from Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
• Cloverleaf Rolls from Sneha’s Recipe
• Coriander Garlic Four Leaf Clover Bread from Sara’s Tasty Buds
• Four Leaf Clover Good Luck Rolls from Cook With Renu
• Golden Pineapple Buns from Food Lust People Love
• Grosse Neujahrs-Breze from All that’s Left Are The Crumbs
• Honey Butter Cloverleaf Rolls from Ambrosia
• Irish Barmbrack from Gayathri’s Cook Spot
• Jewish Challah from Veena’s Veg Nation
• Three King’s Cake from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Lucky Horseshoe Shaped Stuffed Bread from The Mad Scientist’s Kitchen
• Steamed Piglet Buns from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Vasilopita from Anybodycanbake