Best 2 Irish Tea Barmbrack Recipes

IRISH TEA CAKE (BARMBRACK)

Irish Tea Cake (Barmbrack) image

Barmbrack comes in tons of varieties, from light and yeasted to super-dense and fruitcake-like, which is what I attempted here. It's traditionally a Halloween treat, and my experience was, unfortunately, equal parts trick and treat. This recipe improves on the original video version, which my Irish friends on YouTube said needed baking soda, more tea, and much less whole grain flour. Of course, top with butter and enjoy alongside a cup of hot tea.

Provided by Chef John

Categories World Cuisine Recipes European UK and Ireland Irish

Time 3h5m

Yield 8

Number Of Ingredients 23

Ingredients

2 Irish breakfast tea bags
2 cups boiling water
¼ cup dried currants
½ cup dried cherries
½ cup golden raisins
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup spelt flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
¼ cup milk
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
1 tablespoon Irish whiskey
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
6 tablespoons butter, melted
2 teaspoons honey, or to taste

Steps:

Place tea bags in a heatproof measuring cup. Pour in boiling water and let steep for 5 minutes. Remove tea bags and let cool until barely warm.
Combine currants, cherries, and raisins in a bowl. Pour warm tea over the fruit. Let sit for 2 hours. Drain fruit, reserving 2 to 4 tablespoons of the tea.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Thoroughly butter a 9x5-inch loaf pan and line with buttered parchment paper.
Whisk flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves together in a large bowl. Make a well in the center. Add brown sugar, egg, milk, reserved tea, lemon and orange zest, whiskey, vanilla, and butter. Mix until flour is mostly incorporated. Stir in fruit until just combined.
Spread batter into the prepared loaf pan. Tap pan against the counter.
Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Drizzle honey over the top. Let cool in the pan before slicing.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 315.5 calories, Carbohydrate 51.2 g, Cholesterol 46.8 mg, Fat 9.9 g, Fiber 2.7 g, Protein 5.6 g, SaturatedFat 5.9 g, Sodium 569.5 mg, Sugar 22.3 g

IRISH TEA BARMBRACK

Irish Tea Barmbrack image

This is an easy dark fruit cake or tea brack, which involves soaking dried fruit in strong black tea overnight. Barmbrack was traditionally served on Halloween in Ireland. Items, such as a ring to signify a wedding in the near future, would be wrapped up in paper and baked in the cake for one lucky person to find in their slice! There's no butter required for the recipe itself, but it's worth buttering every slice of this. Stored in an airtight tin, this cake will keep for 10 days.

Provided by Ita

Categories Bread Quick Bread Recipes Fruit Bread Recipes

Time 9h45m

Yield 10

Number Of Ingredients 9

Ingredients

2 cups raisins
¾ cup golden raisins (sultanas)
¼ cup candied mixed fruit peel
1 teaspoon molasses (treacle), or more to taste
1 ¼ cups warm, strong black tea
1 ¾ cups self-rising flour
1 cup turbinado (demerara) sugar
1 egg
¼ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (mixed spice)

Steps:

Mix raisins, golden raisins, mixed fruit peel, and molasses with black tea in a bowl; cover and let soak, 8 hours to overnight.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and line a loaf pan with parchment paper.
Stir flour, turbinado sugar, egg, and pumpkin pie spice into raisin mixture until well mixed; pour into the prepared loaf pan.
Bake in the preheated oven until barmbrack is firm to the touch, about 1 1/2 hours. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 298.9 calories, Carbohydrate 72.3 g, Cholesterol 18.6 mg, Fat 0.9 g, Fiber 2.3 g, Protein 4.1 g, SaturatedFat 0.2 g, Sodium 298.1 mg, Sugar 42.8 g