Fruit bread with punchy cheese – Divine!
I decided on Saturday that I would make this Irish Brack bread. It had been a while since I’d made bread. Unfortunately I didn’t get around to it until about 4pm, but still not too late I thought. I read the recipe. Put the fruit mix into the boiling water with 2 teabags and leave overnight to soak!! Well there goes my bread making. So I put it on to soak anyway
Dried fruit with tea
and after an hour or so, I decided to make it. It had no yeast, it was more like a cake, so could be done without waiting for yeast to rise. I added extra teabags just to be sure it was doing a good job of infusing all the flavour it needed. Then I assembled the cake, the wet fruit mixed with dry ingredients of flour and baking powder. 
It reminded me of my mother’s Christmas cake recipe with the addition of mixed spice. 
The difference here is this Irish Brack is eaten with blue cheese, and aged cheddar and Camembert. 
Got to be good for you, any excuse to eat cheese is a fine excuse indeed.
The bread was going to take an hour to cook and we planned to go out and watch the All Blacks play France at Jack Tar Bar in Wynyard Quarter, so that was perfect timing. It needed to sit, and cool before it could be eaten anyway. In fact it is the kind of ‘bread’ that is better when you leave it to mature for 1-2 days before slicing. It firms up, like a good fruit cake.
The All Blacks won Yay!!
So we wandered down to the pub 
and all and sundry were there to watch the big game. The thing I noticed is that there were a lot of family groups, Mums and Dads with their kids, couples, and friends all come out for some camaraderie around a common cause, watching and supporting our team. Makes for a great atmosphere.
When we did try the bread the next day, 
I’d have to say I was astounded at how good it was. Fruit and cheese has always been a good combination and my sister, and visitors who tried it all agreed. It was a hit of a combination, rich spicy fruit bread and punchy cheese. Makes your mouth water just thinking about it. 🙂
