St. Patrick's Day Recipes: Irish Barmbrack Cake

Whether served on its own or at the end of a hearty meal, Irish barmbrack - also known as Irish tea cake - is rich, moist and works best with lashings of butter! You’ll need to start preparing it the day before, but it’s worth it to create the crowning glory of your sweet St Patrick’s Day food ideas.

Don't forget you can see more mouth-watering St. Patrick's Day recipes from B&M online!

• Prep Time: 12 hours 10 mins (incl soaking)
• Cook Time: 1 hour
• Total Time: 13 hours, 10 mins

Serves: 4

Category: Bread

Ingredients

• 115g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 190g dried fruits (currants, raisins, sultanas and orange peel)
• 65g brown sugar
• 1 egg
• A pinch of mixed spice
• 125ml cold tea
• 25ml whiskey
• Loaf pan

Method

Optional: a fun object to place inside (traditionally there would be a few of these, with each one carrying a different meaning for the person that got it in their slice. A ring, for example, would be a sign that the person who found it would get married the same year! If you choose to do this, select items that won’t melt and be careful of choking hazards, but this could be a great addition not just to your St. Patrick’s Day food ideas but also to the fun activities available to your guests.)

1. Mix the fruit, tea and whiskey in a bowl and leave it overnight.
2. Preheat your oven to gas mark 3 or around 170 degrees celsius.
3. Mix the baking powder, flour and brown sugar together in a mixing bowl.
4. Crack in the egg and mix well.
5. Pour in enough of the liquid from the bowl containing the fruit to make the dough sticky.
6. Leaving the remainder of the liquid in its bowl, spoon out the fruit and mix it into the dough.
7. Give everything a good stir, then pop in your fun objects, making sure you mix everything up even more afterwards.
8. If you have a silicone baking pan, you shouldn’t need to grease or line it. However, with a metal pan, you should grease it with butter and line it with greaseproof paper before pouring the mixture in.
9. Tip the dough into the pan, then pop it in the oven. It should bake for around an hour.
10. Leave to cool then tip it out of the pan.

From here, you can either slice it up straight away or wrap it up and leave it for a few days to mature. Either way, once you’re ready, serve it with plenty of butter after a hearty main meal made up of our other St. Patrick’s Day food ideas!

B&M Top Tip: If you’re making a few delicious baked goods for your St Patrick’s Day celebration, be sure to check out our selection of Dr Oetker baking supplies, including green food colouring and green fondant icing.