Barmbrack is one of those things you either LOVE or loathe! Growing up in Ireland, the shops would be chockablock with the stuff every year around Hallow's Eve.
If you love the cinnamon and raisin combo and yeast bread, you will love this eggless and dairy-free version of the classic Irish sweet bread!
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🍞 What Is Barmbrack?
Barmbrack is a traditional Irish bread with tea-soaked fruit. It is soft and fluffy, and often spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and/or ginger.
Irish barmbrack (báirín breac) which translates to "speckled loaf" is also known as "freckle bread" due to the raisins inside. It is served as a Halloween bread during Samhain - an ancient Gaelic pagan holiday that marks the beginning of the dark months and the celebration of the harvest.
Traditional barmbrack bread would contain items baked inside the loaf which were believed to tell the fortune of the person who received them. Items included a pea, a stick, a piece of cloth, a small coin, a bean, and a ring.
For safety purposes, we're not including any inedible items in this vegan brambrack, but if you decide to include them please make sure you first wrap them in parchment paper and make those eating aware!
If you're looking for more delicious Halloween recipes, try my spooky cupcakes, devil's food cake, and spider web cake next.
🧾 Ingredients Needed
This delicious loaf comes together with pretty straightforward ingredients, a lot of which you may already have in our pantry. Here's what to grab:
Ingredient Notes
Find the complete list of ingredients, quantities, and instructions in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Vegan Buttermilk: This is a simple mixture of soy milk and apple cider vinegar. Using vegan buttermilk and yeast helps to create a pillowy soft consistency that makes this bread delicious served fresh or toasted.
- Mixed Spices: I love using ground cinnamon and nutmeg here but feel free to add some dried ginger, allspice, and ground cloves as well. For a more neutral bread, you can omit the spices altogether.
- Irish Whiskey: While optional this adds a lovely kick to the bairín breac. You can replace it with more tea to keep it tea total!
- Instant Yeast: This homemade fruit bread calls for instant dry yeast. If you are using active dry yeast, it will need to be activated first. To activate, add the yeast to warm buttermilk with a spoonful of sugar and stir. Once the mixture begins bubbling and foaming (about 5-10 minutes), it’s ready to go!
🥣 Instructions
Making homemade barm brack is pretty straightforward, and you either make it with a stand mixer or by hand, both versions are explained in detail in the recipe card at the end of the page.
Here's a visual of how it's done:
Step 1: Combine freshly brewed hot tea, Irish whiskey, raisins, and sultanas in a bowl. Cover and let it sit at room temperature overnight or for a minimum of 1-2 hours.
Step 2: Drain the liquid from the fruit. Then add the soaked fruit mix to a bowl with 2 tablespoons of flour and toss to combine, set aside.
Step 3: Using the dough hook attachment, knead the dough ingredients in a stand mixer for 5 minutes until it forms a soft wet dough.
Step 4: Add in the drained and flour-coated fruit and mix for another minute to combine.
Step 5: Place the dough ball into a large bowl that's been lightly oiled and cover with cling film. Place in a warm part of your kitchen to proof for 1-2 hours until the dough has puffed up and doubled in size.
Step 6: Punch the air out of the dough, and mold it into a round ball (it does not need to be perfect). Then place it into the prepared cake pan or lined loaf tin.
Step 7: Cover the pan and let it proof in a warm place for another hour until it puffs up. Brush with vegan egg wash and bake in a preheated oven for 55-60 minutes until the surface is golden brown.
Step 8: Cool the bread slightly for 15 minutes. Then carefully remove the bread from the springform pan and place it on a wire rack to cool completely.
🥃 Variations
While I don't recommend you change the ratios of wet and dry ingredients, there are lots of additions you can include to tweak it to your liking. Here are some ideas:
- Add zest: You can add 50g of dried citrus peel or a tablespoon of freshly grated orange zest or lemon zest for a fresh and zingy twist.
- Alternate the fruit: Depending on what you have to hand, golden raisins, dried cranberries, blueberries, currants, or glace cherries, are all lovely in this loaf bread. Just make sure you check the cherries are vegan as they sometimes contain the artificial color, carmine.
- Alcohol-Free: You can omit the whiskey altogether and replace it with additional strong black tea if preferred.
- Add trinkets: You can bake items inside the bread such as a ring. As mentioned above, please make sure you wrap them in parchment first and make those consuming the bread aware!
💭 Recipe Tips
Save the liquid from the tea soak. To avoid food waste, you can use this to make iced tea or add it to recipes like rice pudding or porridge. Just remember the alcohol content in case you plan on giving it to kids, opt for the alcohol-free version of the recipe.
Store yeast in the freezer. You can easily extend the lifespan of your yeast packets by several months or more by tucking them in the door of your freezer.
Knead the dough for the specified period of time. This step is essential for developing the gluten strands in the dough, which will strengthen the dough and help it hold onto the gas bubbles created by the yeast for a fluffy bread.
💬 FAQs
While both are traditional Irish recipes served around autumn, barmbrack is a yeasted bread that is speckled with dried fruit.
Tea brack, on the other hand, is a quick bread. It is much sweeter and has a moist, rich crumb, more similar to fruit cake.
Absolutely! Place the loaf in an airtight container or wrap well with plastic wrap and freeze for up to a month. You can defrost it in the oven so it tastes fresh again. Simply sprinkle a little water on the surface and bake at 175C for 10 minutes until warmed throughout.
🥖 More Yeast Bread Recipes
📖 Recipe
Description
Equipment
Ingredients
- 118 ml (½ cup) freshly brewed strong tea, I use 2x black tea bags
- 50 ml (⅕ cup) whiskey, sub with additional tea
- 100 g (⅔ cup) raisins
- 100 g (⅔ cup) sultanas
- 240 ml (1 cup) vegan buttermilk
- 75 g (2.65 oz) vegan butter
- 460 g (3 ⅔ cups) all-purpose flour, + additional 2 tablespoons for soaked fruit
- 60 g (⅓ cup) granulated sugar
- 2 ½ teaspoons instant yeast, *see note 1
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Vegan Egg Wash (optional)
- 2 tablespoons soy milk
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
Instructions
- Please read the recipe thoroughly before getting started. For the most accurate results, measure with a digital kitchen scale.
- Night before or at least 1-2 hours ahead: Add the raisins and sultanas to a bowl and pour freshly brewed tea and whiskey on top. Cover the bowl and let it sit at room temperature overnight or for a minimum of 1-2 hours. Drain the liquid from the soaked fruit (*see note 2). Add the fruit to a bowl with 2 tablespoons of flour and toss to combine, set aside.
- Prepare ingredients and equipment: Lightly grease the base and sides of a 9-inch springform pan and line the base with a round of parchment paper.Make a batch of vegan buttermilk. Slowly melt the vegan butter in a saucepan over low heat or in the microwave. Be careful not to heat it, you just want to warm it enough to melt.
- Make the dough: Add the melted butter to the vegan buttermilk and mix. In a separate large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, yeast, spices, and salt. Knead (stand mixer): Pour the buttermilk mixture and dry ingredients into the stand mixer bowl. Using the dough hook attachment, knead the dough in a stand mixer for 5 minutes. Add in the drained fruit and mix for another minute to combine.
- Alternatively, knead the dough by hand: Pour the buttermilk mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients and use a spatula to bring the mixture together into a shaggy dough. Knead for 5-7 minutes until it forms a smooth ball, then mix in the drained fruit. If kneading by hand, DON'T be tempted to flour the surface, the dough will be very sticky at the start but it will come together once ready. If it gets too messy, you can wash and dry your hands halfway through the process. A dough scraper is also very useful to frequently scrape up any dough that sticks to the surface.
- 1st proof: Clean and dry the bowl and lightly grease it with some oil. Place the dough ball into the bowl and cover the top of the bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Place in a warm part of your kitchen to proof for 1-2 hours until the dough has puffed up and doubled in size.
- 2nd proof: Punch the air out of the dough, mold the dough into a round ball (it does not need to be perfect), and then place it into the prepared cake pan. Cover the pan with plastic wrap, foil, or a clean tea towel, and let it proof in a warm place for another hour until it puffs up.
- Bake: Preheat the oven to fan 175°C (347°F). Mix together the soy milk and maple syrup for the vegan egg wash and brush it over the top of the bread dough. Bake for 55-60 minutes until the top is golden brown. Cool slightly for 15 minutes, then carefully remove the bread from the springform pan and place it on a wire rack to cool completely.
- Serving and storage: Serve as is or toasted with vegan butter and a drizzle of maple syrup, agave, or vegan honey. To store, wrap up the loaf or place it into a sealed container and store it at room temperature for up to 4 days. It can also be frozen for up to a month.
Notes
- Yeast: This recipe calls for instant dry yeast, if you are using active yeast, it will need to be activated first. to activate, add the yeast to warm buttermilk with a spoonful of sugar and stir. Once the mixture begins bubbling and foaming (about 5-10 minutes), it’s ready.
- Save the liquid from the tea soak. To avoid food waste, you can use this to make iced tea or add it to recipes like rice pudding or porridge. Just remember the alcohol content in case you plan on giving it to kids, opt for the alcohol-free version of the recipe.
Nutrition
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Would chai tea work if I don’t add the spices into the dough?
Hi Mike,
That sounds like it would be lovely!
My only issue was with the proofing, but I think that was due to the weather/temperature. I made this on a pretty cold day. There wasn't a lot of rise, but I don't think that it affected...or is it effected??? the finished product. Finished baking in time to have as a delicious afternoon snack.
Hi Lisa!
Oh yes that would probably be down to the temperature. I'm so happy it still baked up nicely, thank you for your feedback!
Hello, and thank you for this recipe, which looks delicious!
Would it be possible to leave the dough overnight in the fridge before the second proof, as you can for other baked goods?
Hi Marie,
Yes absolutely! Hope you enjoy making the recipe 🙂
Wonderful, thank you! I'm excited to see how it turns out 🙂
Also, I added the nutmeg and cinnamon when I reached the fourth step, but I can't see the spices in the instructions. Is it possible it should read "whisk together the flour, sugar, yeast, salt and spices "?
Hi Marie,
Oops, yes you/re absolutely right, thanks for spotting!
I'm wondering, can it also be made with a gluten-free flower blend?
Hello Laura,
I'm sorry I haven't tried it with GF. I think it could be a little tricky to get the same texture with gf flour though 🙁