At Halloween in Ireland it is traditional to eat Barmbrack which is not vegan so here is a recipe for Vegan Irish Barmbrack.

The recipe I have made most often is my maternal grandmothers recipe for Irish Barmbrack. I never met my grandmother as she died before I was born. I have been told many stories about her. She was a trained cook working in a kitchen of a large house with servants before she married. She was always a talented cook and could literally make a meal from nothing. I think I inherited my love of cooking and baking from her.

My grandmother, Agnes Campbell, aged 19 in 1920 when she was training to be a cook.

There are many different recipes for a traditional Irish Barmbrack. It is a fruit teabread traditionally made at Halloween which coincided with the harvest. The fruit would be gathered to make the Christmas cakes. This was a way to preserve the fruits which were a great luxury.

Not as rich as a Christmas cake, and more like a bread. It has a scattering of dried fruit and mixed spice. It was generally spread with butter to be eaten. The Irish term for this, Bairín Breac, means ‘speckled bread’ indicating that the fruit was scarce in the loaf.

My grandmother`s recipe is not the traditional Barmbrack which is more like a bread with a little bit of fruit, hers has lots of fruit and is much more moist.

It is traditional to add charms wrapped in baking parchment to the Barmbrack such as a ring, a coin, a pea, and a piece of fabric. The charm denotes the fortune of the person finding it:

A dried pea, the person would not marry
A piece of cloth, the person would have bad luck or would be poor
A coin, would enjoy good fortune or be rich
A ring, the person would be married within the year
The person who got the ring was meant to place it under his or her pillow when they would dream of the person they would marry!

The ring is still included in a Barmbrack today, even in the ones sold in shops at Halloween.

Did you know the origin of Halloween dates back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain about 2000 years ago?

Samhain was celebrated by the ancient Celts in the belief that the souls of their ancestors returned to earth on this night causing trouble and damaging crops. The druids, who were the Celtic priests, channeled these spirits to determine the future. Bonfires were built and animals were sacrificed to placate the spirits and to ensure safe passage through the winter period. To a point, it was both a celebration of the harvest and the casting of spells to ward off evil for the cold months ahead.

Ancient Celtic people in Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1st. It is regarded as All Saints Day (All Hallows) in the Catholic tradition, followed on the 2nd of November by All Souls day. The last day of October then was All Hallows Eve, which is what we now know as Halloween.

Barmbrack in Irish is called Bairín Breac

My Grandmother`s recipe is obviously not vegan but I simply used apple sauce instead of the eggs which as a bonus makes it extra moist. This is all I needed to do to convert the recipe to Vegan Irish Barmbrack.

The dried fruit I used is a packet of mixed fruit which contains sultans, raisins, currants and mixed candied peel. The fruit is soaked over night in tea. I add two teabags to boiling water and stir it around until the tea is strong. Then I remove the teabags and add the fruit which the water is still boiling. Cover and leave overnight so the fruit soaks up the tea and gets plump and juicy.

If I forget to soak the fruit then I simply put the tea and fruit in a saucepan and simmer gently for five minutes. Do not boil or the tea will evaporate and the Barmbrack will be too dry. Let it cool before using.

The flour and other ingredients are then stirred in and placed in a 2lb loaf tin. I line the tin with baking parchment and grease it as well because there is no fat in the Brack so it can stick.

Bake for an hour to an hour and a half. Test with a skewer to check it is cooked in the centre, if it comes out clean then the brack is cooked. If the top is getting too brown before it is cooked cover it with some tinfoil to prevent it burning.

Let cool for thirty minutes in tin before turning out. Serve sliced and thickly spread with vegan butter. A slice of Barmbrack still warm and a cup of tea is a treat at anytime of the year!

Did you make this recipe? Take a pic and share it on Instagram with the hashtag #aveggiecooks and tag @aveggiecooks. I would love to see it!