Hallowe'en Tradition & Irish Food Barm Brack

Traditional Cake for the 31st of October in Ireland & North America

Sep 25, 2008 Susan Morris

Barm Brack, a classic Irish cake made with spices and fruit, can feature as a traditional Hallowe'en cake in family celebrations in North America and Ireland.

Matthew Drennan, introducing ‘Barm Brack’ in his Classic Irish: A selection of the best traditional Irish Food (Hermes House, 1998) writes “This is traditionally a Hallowe’en cake. Long ago, a wedding ring would be baked in it and, it was said, whoever found it would be married within the year”.

Barm Brack

Ireland’s leading food historian Regina Sexton writes in her preface to A Little History of Irish Food (Gill and Macmillan, 1998) that “The study of Irish food has not been given the respect it deserves … With the best intentions, there has been a tendency to use historical archives selectively to avoid certain foods and preparation techniques which may be considered too simplistic or naïve to warrant serious attention”.

Barm Brack, the traditional Hallowe’en cake, does not appear in all traditional Irish recipe books, possibly for that reason. Brid Mahon in Land of Milk and Honey: The Story of Traditional Irish Food and Drink, (Merdier Press, 1998) writes about Hallowe’en: "people looked into the future, and when feasting and merriment were ordained. Up to recent time this was a day of abstinence, when according to church ruling no flesh meat was allowed. Colcannon, apple cake and barm brack, as well as apples and nuts were part of the festive fare".

The ingredients and directions are relatively straightforward for making a Barm Brack cake for Hallowe’en (or Halloween), 31st October,:

Ingredients:

• 1 lb plain flour
• 8 oz sultanas
• 8 oz currants
• 4 oz mixed peel
• 2 oz butter
• 2 oz brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• ½ oz yeast
• ½ pt milk
• ¼ tsp nutmeg

Directions:

1. Sieve the flour and nutmeg with a pinch of salt into a mixing bowl.
2. Rub in the butter to the flour.
3. Add the sugar to the flour.
4. Beat the eggs in the milk in a separate bowl.
5. Combine the yeast with the milk and eggs.
6. Then beat this liquid into the dry ingredients to make the cake batter.
7. Once the batter consistency is achieved, fold in the sultanas, currants and mixed peel.
8. Pour into a greased cake tin and allow the uncooked cake mixture to rise for 1 hour.
9. Bake in the oven at a high temperature for one hour, then turn out to cool on a wire rack.

Barm Brack, Colcannon and Hallowe’en Tradition in Ireland

Interestingly, the cake Barm Brack, with its Hallowe’en traditions and marriage proposals, echoes other oral stories relating to the Irish dish Colcannon, made with floury potatoes and cabbage, and traditions in Ireland on 31st October.

In A Little History of Irish Food (Gill and Macmillan, 1998), Regina Sexton tells the story of Hallowe’en (or Halloween) tradition and making Colcannon, into which a ring is hidden. The Colcannon is placed among the invited crowd. The Hallowe’en (or Halloween) belief is that the person who finds the ring will be the next person in the gathered crowd to marry.

The copyright of the article Hallowe'en Tradition & Irish Food Barm Brack in Seasonal Cooking is owned by Susan Morris. Permission to republish Hallowe'en Tradition & Irish Food Barm Brack in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Hallowe'en Festive Fare

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