Former Bake Off judge and celebrity baker Mary Berry in Tipperary to taste local delicacy

Former Bake Off judge Mary Berry was in Tipperary today tasting a very local delicacy – the Clonmel barm brack.

She visited Hickey's Bakery at the Westgate for a television programme to air in 2020.

And there was a strong Halloween influence to the visit.

Proprietor Nuala Hickey and her team baked Halloween Barm Brack with all the trinkets.

Nuala told the story that Irish Barm Brack originally had trinkets added and it was known as a fortune telling cake.

It contained a pea, a coin, a stick, a rag, a button, and a ring.

They then had tea in the café and sliced the brack to see Mary's fortune!

Mary Berry is a British food writer and television presenter. After being encouraged in domestic science classes at school, she studied catering and institutional management at college. She then moved to France at the age of 21 to study at Le Cordon Bleu school, before working in a number of cooking-related jobs.

She has published more than 75 cookery books, including her bestselling Baking Bible in 2009. Her first book was The Hamlyn All Colour Cookbook in 1970. She hosted several television series for the BBC and Thames Television. Berry is an occasional contributor to Woman's Hour and Saturday Kitchen. She was a judge on the BBC One (originally BBC Two) television programme The Great British Bake Off from its launch in 2010 until 2016 when it relocated to Channel 4.