St. Patrick’s Day at Feast

Saint Patrick’s Day at Feast! Whist celebrations for the Irish holiday weren’t possible, we still decided to bring St. Paddy’s to you!

While traditionally, Ireland isn’t necessarily known for its cuisine, we consider the traditional flavours of the Emerald Isle to be wholesome, & heart-warming. However, there is now a renaissance of Irish food, with new, young chefs pushing the boundaries.

To celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day at Feast, we thought we add our own Irish twist, by supplying you, with the corned beef and Guinness braised onions toastie! Traditional flavours, with a new(ish) concept.

As nice as this was (we recommend you try it yourself), we still wanted to retain proper Irish flavours for this holiday at Feast as well. This being the Irish Barmbrack loaf. The term ‘barm’ relates to the froth left in the fermentation of beer/cider, which would have been added to the cake mixture. We used whiskey in ours instead. This fruit loaf is typically celebrated around Halloween in Ireland, but we thought that Fruitcake can be enjoyed all year!

Below is a recipe for the Barmbrack loaf we made, from Donal Skehan, found in the Irish times.

Ingredients (Serves 8):

• 225g Plain Flour *
• 2 Tbsps of Baking Powder *
• 375g Packet of Fruit Mix *
• 250ml Cold Tea
• 50ml Whiskey
• 125g Light Brown Sugar *
• 1 Large Egg
• 1 Tsp of Mixed Spice *

Ingredients(*) are available from the Feast refill store

Method:

1. Place the fruit mix in a bowl, then pour over the whiskey & cold tea. Allow to soak overnight.
2. Preheat the oven to 170C/Gas Mark 3. Line & grease a 900g loaf tin. Combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, & mixed spice. Then make a well for the egg & mix together until well combined. Add the fruit and all the liquid, mix well until you can see no more dry flour.
3. Spoon the wet dough into your loaf tin & place into the oven (middle shelf) for 50 minutes to 1 hour. Remove, & cool before placing on to a wire rack.
4. Wrap in cling film & tin foil, rest for 1 or 2 days before cutting into. Serve with a little spread of butter, and tea of course!