If you cycle all day in Donegal, you can eat as much soda bread as you like!
- Mom & Dad (and if anyone is interested, we highly recommend Ireland By Bike!)
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour (plus a little extra for kneading dough)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3/2 tsp baking soda
- 2 Tbs brown sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 Tbs butter (unsalted)
- 2 egg,s room temp (like my friend Jennifer Garner taught me) & beaten SEPARATELY
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 1/3 cup raisins or currants
Substition: If you don't have buttermilk, you can substitute: mix one cup milk with 1 Tbs vinegar (or lemon juice) and let it sit for five minutes before measuring out 3/4 cup to use for the soda bread. Discard the remainder.
Equipment
- Large mixing bowl
- Small bowl
- Parchment paper
- Baking sheet (or maybe a Dutch oven)
- Parchment paper
- Whisk, spoon, basting brush
- Couple knives or pastry cutter/blender
- Cooling rack
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F
- In large bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and brown sugar.
- Cut in the butter with pastry tool - or just use a couple knives. Cut, cut, cut until the butter chunks are small and then just crumble the lumps with your fingers until you have a coarse mixture.
- Mix the buttermilk and ONE egg together. Add raisins and then add this wet concoction to the dry stuff.
- Stir just until moistened. Then dump the doough out onto a large sheet of parchment paper (or another clean surface that is suitable for kneading) that has been dusted with flour. Knead gently about 12 times.
- Shape dough into a 6-inch round loaf. Transfer to a well-greased baking sheet. Cut a 4-inch cross (about 1/4-inch deep) into top of loaf and brush the loaf with the OTHER beaten egg.
- Bake for about 35 minutes or until golden brown.
NOTE: My soda bread almost always sticks to the baking sheet, so I'm going to try transfering the loaf to a large, clean parchment after shaping the loaf. Then I'll lift the whole thing - paper and all - onto a preheated pan the way I do when I cook bread. Then I'll brush with the egg and bake. But I haven't tested this method so it might fail! Let me kmow if anyone tries it before I do - or knows why it might be a bad idea.
With shepherd's pie...
Or seafood...
Always a celebration!
English