Following up on the Charcutepalooza Irish challenge of making some homemade corned beef, I had requests for my side dish – the simple, yet oh-so-delicious Irish Soda Bread.
Here’s the family recipe passed down from Great Grandma Anna Rowland (with notes from me on where I changed it up slightly!)
Ingredients:
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 egg slightly beaten
- 1 & 3/4 cups buttermilk
- 2 teaspoons caraway seeds (I love the nutty/earthy taste of caraway so I double this amount)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375
- Combine and sift all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add raisins (although the caraway is listed at the end of the ingredients I add them here)
- Cut in butter with pastry blender until crumbly (a fork works just as well!)
- Mix egg with buttermilk (I use powdered buttermilk and add the appropriate amount of water to get to 1 3/4 cups, then added in the egg)
- Add to dry ingredients and stir until blended
- Turn out on floured board and knead until smooth, approximately 2-3 minutes
- Divide dough in half; shape each half into a round loaf and place each loaf in a greased 8-inch cake or pie tin. Press dough to sides of pan to make a uniform circle. (I used a square baking tin that worked just as well. I also love the crust on Irish Soda Bread so I tend to press mine out to make a bigger circle and expand the crusty exterior. Don’t worry about making it fancy. Remember, it’s rustic!)
- With floured knife, cut a cross on top about 1/2 inch deep in the middle.
- Bake in preheated 375 oven for 35-40 minutes (My oven cooks faster than most, so I checked on the bread at 30 and pulled it out then as the top was browned already)
- Slather with delicious butter and enjoy! Tastes fabulous fresh out of the oven or after cooling (and with a pint of Guinness!)