Everyone must get a slice of Irish Halloween barmbrack to see what the future holds – weddings, spinsterhood, or poverty!? Fun.
Halloween, celebrated on October 31, is one of those authentic Celtic traditions that has become a worldwide occasion.
Historically, it is based on the Celtic festival of "Samhain" (Sawh-en), derived from Old Irish and meaning roughly "Summer's End."
With the plantation of Ulster in the early 1600s, the Scottish colonists brought with them the festival of All Hallows' Evening (All Hallows Even'), celebrated on the same night, and the two traditions merged. This was the night that the souls of the dead were thought to walk the earth, and many people believed it a setting for supernatural encounters.
I remember how Holy Water was sprinkled on the outhouses, sheds, and farm animals to keep them safe during the night, and mirrors in our house were covered with sheets so that the poor souls could not enter the living world.
The traditional bread served on the night was the Halloween Barmbrack, meaning "speckled cake," a sweet fruit bread. The word "Barm" comes from the Old English "beorma," meaning yeasty, fermented liquor, and "Brack" comes from the Irish word "brac," meaning speckled, which it is with the dried fruit and candied peel.
The breads made with yeast are called "barmbracks," and those made with baking powder and fruit soaked in tea are called "tea bracks."
Each member of your family must get a slice, and it was always a great treat to find the penny in the cake, as this meant you were going to be rich. Other items buried in the barmbrack are a ring for the bride-to-be, a thimble for the one who would never marry, and a small piece of cloth indicating the one who would be poor.
This is the recipe I have used for many years, and it makes a one-pound loaf.
Irish Halloween barmbrack recipe
Ingredients:
- 3 1/2 cups plain flour (450g)
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons (1 sachet) dried yeast (7g)
- 4 tablespoons butter (75g)
- 1/3 cup castor sugar (75g)
- 1 cup milk (250ml)
- 1 beaten egg
- 1 cup raisins (150g)
- 3/4 cup currants (100g)
- 1/4 cup chopped dried fruit peel (50g)
- Some melted butter for greasing
Method:
Warm the milk, then add the butter and let it melt.
Mix the yeast with one tablespoon of sugar. Add half the warmed milk mixture. Add the beaten egg.
Sift the cinnamon with the flour into a bowl. Make a well in the center and pour the yeast and liquid mixture into it. Sprinkle a little flour over the liquid, then leave it in a warm place for 20 minutes, until the yeast froths.
Add the remaining liquid and mix the whole lot into a dough. Turn it out onto a floured board, sprinkle with the sugar, raisins, currants, and chopped peel, and knead them into the dough.
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Put the dough into a butter-greased large bowl, cover it with cling wrap, and leave it in a warm place until doubled in size.
Knead it back again and then shape it into your greased bread tin. Brush the top with melted butter and cover until the dough doubles in bulk again.
Bake for 40 minutes in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C / Gas mark 6) until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
To give it a nice glaze, stir one tablespoon of sugar into two fl oz of boiling water (50ml), then brush it over the top of the loaf when it comes out of the oven and is still hot. Leave to cool before cutting.
Enjoy!
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* Originally published in October 2012, updated in October 2025.