Traditional Irish Hallowe'en Barmbrack Recipe With My Mammy! (@fitzwithfood)

I never liked brack growing up. Similarly to Christmas cake, I didn't get why I'd choose a cake with fruit in it. It didn't make sense.

My palate has changed wildly in the last few years, though. I rarely order dessert out and don't crave sweets in the same way anymore. I love spicy food now and I'm always up for trying new things. And, somehow, in the midst of all this, brack slid into my preferences. I can't tell you when or why or how but I suddenly started ordering it over rich, chocolatey cakes whenever it was (rarely) on a menu in a cafe. This year, in particular, I've had a real thing for it and was dismayed at how few places were serving it; it's a staple traditional Autumn food in Ireland!

The options in supermarkets weren't much better: all unwieldy, big, cheap, packaged things with little soul. I wanted something fresh and homemade but it clearly wasn't going to happen. So, I suggested my mother and I finally do our collab and make our own brack (with her invaluable know-how) and show others how to do the same.

Mammy is a wonderful cook and baker, in particular. She always has been but she has only really indulged it in the past year or two, since my siblings graduated and she has had more emotional and physical space to focus on herself. At my encouragement, she started an Instagram profile to record her adventures in food, cooking and baking and it has become a passion project. Seeing her finally do something for herself and something she is so good at and interested in has been a joy and I had been wanting to collaborate beyond tagging her in things for a while now.

This weekend, we finally got to it. Here is our recipe for the perfect, loaf-style barmbrack - a traditional fruit-based Irish cake or sweet bread that is served around Hallowe'en and was used as a sort of fortune-telling game. Traditionally, different objects are placed inside and the person who gets a slice with that object would have the corresponding fortune (a pea for those who would not marry that year, a stick for an unhappy marriage, a cloth for poverty or bad luck, a coin for good fortune or wealth and a ring for those who would get married within the year) but we weren't interesting in that (slightly unsanitary) tradition. We were interested in the taste.

Ingredients:

225g of Self Raising Flour
350g of Dried Fruit Mix
300ml of cold Tea
125g of Golden Caster Sugar
1 Egg, beaten
A good pinch of Mixed Spice



Method:

1. Place a couple of tea bags in a mixing bowl, pour boiling water on top and brew for a few minutes. Then, remove the tea bags and allow the tea to cool.

2. Next, add the fruit mix, cover and leave to soak in the tea over night. Ignore the silly questions from your father and younger brother and tell them to leave the bowl alone. Hopefully, they will comply.

3. The next day, preheat the oven to 170°C. Add the sugar, egg, flour and mixed spice to the bowl with the fruit mix and mix well.

4. Grease and line a cake tin and pour in the mixture.

5. Cook for an hour until risen and firm to the touch. Be sure to listen to your mammy and not open the oven repeatedly throughout, as you are naturally prone to doing. Only check once, about halfway through the hour, if the tops are burning. If so, place some greaseproof paper on top to stop the situation from worsening.

6. Take out of the oven, cool on a wire rack and wait a while, until that cake has fully set and mostly cooled, before cutting. This will be hard as it smells so good. 

7. Serve slathered in Irish butter (don't be shy, worry about your heart later), with a nice cup of tea and don't let the banshee get you!


Thanks to my lovely mammy for helping me out with satisfying my desperate need for a good brack and collabing. It mostly involved us baking all day and laughing, which is the best kind of collab. Give her a follow at @fitzwithfood, it'll make her happy and it'll satisfy your food porn needs for a while.

Happy Hallowe'en, y'all! x

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Considered by Helen James

After writing about the revitalisation of Dunnes Stores in recent years, I got asked to come in and meet one of their designers, Helen James...which I promptly (and over-enthusiastically) said yes to. Luckily for me, this coordinated with the recent opening (just last Friday) of the new café attached to, and showcasing, her collection of homeware and food and we sat down with some great tea for a chat in the wonderful space on Drury Street.

Upon entry, I squeed in delight for a while as I took in the décor which echoes the core values of the collection as Helen describes it, "traditional but really modern - clean lines, simplicity" imbued with "the idea of nostalgia but seen through a modern lens". It's wonderfully cosy and masterfully combines a workable café space with room for the artful arrangement of the products that started the whole venture in October. The walls are stripped back of their plaster, revealing the red brick underneath and the fireplace they discovered while renovating. The tables are made of heavy solid woods and the colour scheme is beautifully calming and harmonious. Scented candles burn on the display tables next to fresh fruit scones. Copper pans glint on the shelf and mugs with cheeky messages sit next to them. It's a wonderful celebration of traditional Irish design in homes without being twee, while remaining cool and contemporary. "I lived in New York for twelve years and there's nothing like being away from home to make you look at things differently and appreciate things. I always think that's why John Rocha was such an interesting Irish designer because he came here from Hong Kong and he could really see Irish craft and appreciate it in a way that maybe someone closer to it couldn't."

Helen also notes how important it was to make the range very Irish and to work towards our strengths "There are a lot of Irish elements in the range. Like, all of the food was made in Ireland. And we're working with amazing producers. I mean, the food scene here is so good, it's just insane." We agreed, in fact, that Dublin and Ireland, in general seem entirely revitalised with exciting food and design scenes emerging. But the consumer has been made wary by the tougher times of the past few years and expects more for their money. "Independents are moving in and bringing a different perspective. And I think retailers have to work harder for your dollar now and it's made things much more interesting." In the case of Dunnes "it's like, how do they move forward? How do they stay relevant in a swamped market?" Their take on designer collaborations seems very much the answer. Especially as "all of the brands fit together but they're all very different, they have different personalities."

Value was just as important to Helen as good design and quality "for me, working with Dunnes meant creating something of really good quality but offered at a price point that was really accessible. That was really important to me, I'm very much of the Eames' philosophy of design for the masses...I love the idea that even producing something in a large retailer, you can do something really interesting. Y'know, this range was a new concept, it was the first time that Dunnes brought food and textiles together...Which was really exciting."

The full realisation of bringing food and design together can be seen in the café and Helen's hand is in everything, down to the design of the display shelves and the menu. The attention to detail, the care, is apparent. With Gruel alum in the kitchen and wonderfully friendly (at the exact right level - not too much or too little) staff front of house as well as Helen's continued presence, it gives a boutique touch to something mass-produced. Though, the food in the Drury Street location is anything but mass-produced. Cookies had just come out of the oven as I walked through the door and coffees are served with truly artful designs on top via their talented barista. And, actually only 15 out of 150 stores nationwide will carry the range for now so as to "keep it in stores where people are going to get it for now" and to protect the brand.

Perhaps what most endears both the range and cafe to any and all who see them is the sense of sincerity. It seems very natural and beautifully put together but homely. Helen was given the freedom to do as she wished with the brand and, as a result, it truly represents her as a designer. In fact, "when [she] showed pictures of this place to [her] kids, two of them said 'Oh, it looks just like our house!'" And Helen laughs, "when I brought samples home for a photoshoot with Image Interiors, everything just fit perfectly into my house and I was like, 'Oh, I jut want to keep all of them, I love them so much. I just want them to be here all the time.' So, yeah, it is very much my aesthetic. That was the thing, too I was given complete creative freedom to do what I wanted."

Helen remains excited by the unlimited potential of this new venture of Dunnes' as it gives her the space to try things she never could before. "I had my own label here for eight years and it was so difficult to be competitive because costs are so high. And that's why it's nice to have an economy of scale behind me where I could do something and I knew it was immediately going to go into fifteen stores...that was really exciting for me as a designer because it opened up a whole set of other possibilities."

As to what next? The brand will continue to try new things and move forward; "it won't be a wiping of the slate, it'll evolve. So, it won't be 'this season it's blue chintz', it'll be much more organic than that. For example, in Spring, we have a whole range of tableware that's going to be the same as the ceramic storage jars we have now...more shapes, a few more colours...We're doing some gardening stuff. We're bringing in more textiles, a little bit more pattern - not a huge amount." In addition, they'll have a range of teas, apple juices and lemonades, herb rubs and new flavours in the existing range of chutneys, sweets and preserves.

So, drop into Drury Street for an absolute treat if you get a chance and keep an eye online and in stores for the future (surely) successful expansion and progress of the brand. Oh, and I highly recommend the apple and mint tea...it's amazing.