thanks to George of the Irish Heritage Newsletter... Recipe for Barmbrack Bread Ná mól an t-arán go mbruithear é. (Don't praise the bread until it is baked) IH member Jean has sent out this recipe and interesting story about Barmbrack Bread Perhaps the most distinctive cake is the Barmbrack. It is the only surviving example of the use of yeast in our traditional cooking. In the earlly days of the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, Lady Gregory would always arrive from Coole Park, her home in County Galway with a barmbrack in her holdall. It was custom for her to preside at tea in the Green Room surrounded by writers and actors; W.B. Yeats, J.M. Synge, Lennox Robinson, Sean O'Casey and a supporting cast that included Barry Fitzgerald, Arthur Shields, Sara Allgood, Maire O'Neill, and a host of others who later went on to make international reputations in the Theatre. This Barmbrack Bread became affectionately known as the Gort Cake. A Barmbrack is a light, yeasty, fruitcake that is always sliced and spread with butter before eating. At Hallow's Eve (October 31) the Barmbrack is baked with a wedding ring wrapped in paper and mixed into the dough. If your slice of Barmbrack contains the wedding ring, you will be engaged before the year is out. BARMBRACK BREAD 4 cups flour. 2 eggs. Well beaten 1/4 teasp. nutmeg. l 1/2 cups sultana raisins. pinch of salt 1cup currants 2 Tablespoon Butter 1/3rd.cup chpped candied peel . 1 cake yeast (3/4 ounce) 2 Tablespoons sugar l 1/4 cups milk. Sift Flour and nutmeg together. Rub butter into the flour. Cream the yeast in a cup with a teaspoon of sugar. Add the rest of the sugar to the flour mixture and mix well.Warm the milk to body temperature. Add tothe liquid yeast and most of the well beaten eggs. Beat the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients until the batter is stiff but elastic. Fold in the raisins, currants and fruit peel. Turn into an 8 inch x 4 inch deep cake pan so that the dough only fills half the pan. Cover with a cloth and leave to rise for about an hour or until it doubles in size. Brush the top with a little of the beaten eggs to give a glaze. Bake at 400 for approx. 1 hour, or until a skewer pushed into center of cake comes out clean. -- Pat Connors, Sacramento CA http://www.connorsgenealogy.com All outgoing mail virus free, scanned by Norton