For St. Patrick’s Day this year I decided to pull out my copy of Dubliners and finally finish this collection of short stories. For the story Clay, I made barmbrack, an Irish bread traditionally made for Halloween.
They settled down before their huge mugs which the cook and the dummy filled up with hot tea, already mixed with milk and sugar in huge tin cans. Maria superintended the distribution of the barmbrack and saw that every woman got her four slices. There was a great deal of laughing and joking during the meal.
Clay (from Dubliners) by James Joyce
I was craving a classic and James Joyce was the obvious choice the week of St. Patrick’s Day. In the short story Clay, Maria bakes barmbrack, a traditional Irish yeasted raisin bread. I had to give it a try. It had more of a fruit cake vibe than I’d anticipated. Let’s just say, I’m much more excited for our traditional soda bread that I’ll be baking on St. Patrick’s Day!
What are your St. Patrick’s Day traditions?
Novel Bakery 
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