Irish Tea Cake (Barmbrack) recipe

All Recipes World Cuisine Recipes European UK and Ireland Irish

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

Nutrition Info

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
servingSize: -
sodium: 569.5 mg
sugar: 22.3 g
transFat: : -
unsaturatedFat: : -

Directions

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Thoroughly butter a 9x5-inch loaf pan and line with buttered parchment paper.

  4. 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.

  5. Spread batter into the prepared loaf pan. Tap pan against the counter.

  6. 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.

Recipe Yield

1 9x5-inch loaf

Recipe Note

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.

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