After serving Pan Fried Mackerel recipe from Rachel's Irish Family Food (Harper Collins, February 19), here's something you might want to master in time for St Patrick's Day 2013.
Barmbrack, (Báirín breac)
Vegetarian
time: 30 minutes
time: 45 minutes
Ready
in 1¾ hours
2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice (mixed spice)
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons (25g) butter, plus extra for spreading
1 (¼-ounce/7g) packet fast-rising baking yeast
¼ cup (50g) superfine (caster) or granulated sugar
2⁄3 cup (150ml) milk
1 egg, beaten
1½ cups (200g) mixed dried fruit, either ready-mixed or your own mixture of golden raisins (sultanas), raisins, and dried currants
1 ounce (25g) chopped mixed peel
not dissimilar to the Welsh bara brith. In Gaelic it’s known as báirín breac,
or “speckled loaf” due to the way the dough is dotted with raisins. When
barmbrack was baked for Halloween, the tradition was to add to the cake
mixture a pea, a stick, a piece of cloth, a coin, and a ring. Each item had a
special significance for the person who discovered it in their slice of cake.
The person who received the pea wouldn’t marry that year; the stick meant an
unhappy marriage; the cloth indicated poverty and the coin riches; while the
person who found the ring would wed within the year. Nowadays it’s usually
just a ring that’s added to the batter. The cake is delicious toasted and
buttered and, if not immediately consumed, will keep for about 10 days.
This is a relatively quick recipe for barmbrack
because it uses fast-action yeast, requiring the dough to rise only once.
Butter
the sides and the bottom of a 9 by 5-inch (23 by 13cm) loaf pan.
Sift
the flour, spice, and salt into a large bowl and add the butter, yeast, and
sugar. Beat together by hand or in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook
attachment.
Warm
the milk just until lukewarm, then add to the flour mixture along with the
egg. Mix until the dough comes together. Then knead using a dough hook in an
electric mixer, or tip the dough out onto a well-floured work surface and
knead by hand (don’t worry this is supposed to be a wet dough). Knead for 8
minutes by hand or for 5 minutes in the mixer. Add the dried fruit and mixed peel
and knead for another 2 minutes to mix them in.
Put
the dough into the prepared loaf pan, cover with a light kitchen towel or
napkin and leave to rise in a warm place (by a radiator, for instance, or a
sunny window) for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
Meanwhile,
preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C/Gas mark 4).
Remove
the covering and bake for 45 minutes, or until deep golden brown on top. When
you think the loaf is ready, gently loosen the sides with a spatula and tip
it out of the pan. If it’s fully cooked, it should sound slightly hollow when
you tap it on the bottom and feel springy when you lightly squeeze the sides.
Place it on a wire rack to cool.
Slice up the loaf and serve either fresh or toasted, and buttered
(* Recipe from Rachel's Irish Family Food by Rachel Allen- Harper Collins, February 19, 2013- reproduced with permission)