How to make Irish barm brack

Those of us who grew up with a traditional Halloween, that is to say, in Ireland, don’t have much truck with the contemporary version. The pumpkin-coloured, gore and chocolate fest that has come to Britain via the US is gross by comparison; we had a simple version. We dressed up, but in masks and any old clothes we could lay our hands on. We had nuts and apples for bobbing, not chocolate in the shape of severed fingers. We went from house to house looking for a penny for the bobbin’, not trick or treating. And the thing you really looked forward to was barm brack.

It’s actually a fruited, not too sweet yeast loaf, which is really good buttered, and if a bit stale, toasted and buttered. Halloween was a time for ghosts, not chainsaw massacres. And the custom of harmless divination associated with the feast of the dead is perpetuated in the ring you still find inside Irish bracks. The one to get the ring would be the next married. Previously there were other bits besides; a matchstick (I think, for bachelors) and a pea or piece of cloth (I think, for poverty). You can buy commercial bracks in Ireland still – and it’s a mystery why this one authentic Halloween treat hasn’t been adopted here – but a homemade one is good too. 

Here is the Darina Allen version, which is pretty well identical to an earlier version by Theodora Fitzgibbon: 

• 450g (1lb) strong white flour; 
• Half teaspoon ground cinnamon; 
• Half teaspoon mixed spice; 
• Pinch of salt; 
• 25g (1oz) butter; 
• 3 oz caster sugar;
• 20g (3/4 oz.) fresh yeast;
• 300ml (half pint) tepid milk;
• 1 beaten egg; 
• 225g (8 oz.) sultanas; 
• 110g (4 oz.) currants; 
• 50g (2 oz.) chopped mixed peel.
• Two loaf tins 
• Ring, matchstick, pea or little piece of cloth, wrapped in greaseproof paper 

1. Warm the mixing bowl first. 
2. Sieve the flour and spices into the bowl. Rub in the butter. Cream a teaspoon of sugar with the yeast and leave to froth. 
3. Mix in the sugar. Pour the tepid milk and the egg into the mixture with the yeast. Knead well; it will be a stiff, slightly sticky dough. 
4. Fold in the dried peel and fruit. Cover with a cloth or butter paper and leave in a warm place to double in size; about an hour. 
5. Knead again for two to three minutes. Grease the tins and divide the dough between them. Stick the ring and other things if you’re using them inside the dough. 
6. Leave to rise for another 30-45 minutes until the dough is nice and puffy. Midway through, preheat the oven to 180 degrees. 
7. Bake for about an hour. Make a bun wash by mixing equal quantities of sugar and milk – about two tablespoons of each – in a pan until the sugar has dissolved. 
8. When the brack is golden and fully cooked, brush it with the bun wash and return to the oven for two to three minutes. 
9. Leave to cool. When cool, serve in slices with butter.