Irish Soda Bread I

Are you Irish and getting ready to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? Maybe you just love all things green? Every year at this time you can find beautiful displays of Irish soda bread at the grocery store. Hmm, the sample at store tasted so good this year. But at $4 for a very small loaf we passed on it. Instead of buying a loaf we decided to have a go at making our own this year.

This little Leprechaun guy told me soda bread is not that hard to make. Should I believe him?

You can find a host of recipes on the internet. This weekend we tried the version below. Our loaf is baking as I am typing these words. Hope it turns out all right. I can’t wait to pull it from the oven…

• 4 cups of flour (plus a bit more for kneading)
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking
• 4 Tsp butter
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 3/4 cups buttermilk

How to make it?

Step 1: Set the oven temperature at 425 Fahrenheit. In a big mixing bowl combine the dry ingredients (except the raisins). Mix flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda together with a spoon.

Step 2.: Cut the butter into small chunks and add to the  bowl. Incorporate butter using your fingers or a pastry cutter. Work the butter into the flour until it looks like course meal. Then stir in the cup of dried raisins.

Step 3: Make a well in the center and pour in the beaten egg and buttermilk. Stir until you get a sticky dough. When you can’t work it any more with the spoon use your hands to shape the dough into a ball. Turn it out onto a floured surface where you can knead it a bit more. Be careful not to knead it too long or you bread might end up too tough.

 

Step 4: Lightly grease a cookie sheet or bake your bread in a greased skilled ( that’s what we used). Take a serrated knife and cut an x-shape into the top of your bread. Sort of making it look like a big hot cross bun.  You want to cut rather deeply, about 1.5 inches deep so your bread gets baked properly.

 

I baked this loaf for 30 minutes. After 25 minutes I had to put some aluminum foil on top so it would not get too tan.

We just pulled it from the oven and chewed halfway through the loaf. Yummy it’s really good. It was very easy to make too. Next week I want to try the whole wheat version. So stay tuned for a healthier version..

Ulla Seckler  is a dollmaker who was born and raised in Germany. She lives in beautiful Colorado with her husband and two kids. You can find her Notes by a German Dollmaker on her blog where she shares some great German recipes, pictures of her sweet dolls, and life lessons learned.  Don’t forget to stop by her Etsyshop and take a peek at her wonderful doll creations.