Irish Soda Bread
Credit: Christopher Hirsheimer
Ever since soda bread, that staple of the Irish dining table, was invented in the 1800s, it seems there are nearly as many "traditional" recipes as there are Irish families. Some are simple concoctions incorporating little more than flour, baking soda and buttermilk, while others boast the additions of various fruits and spices. This raisin-studded incarnation comes from a former SAVEUR staffer, who learned it the way such dishes should be—from her grandmother.
4 cups flour
2 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
4 tbsp. butter
1 cup raisins
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 cups buttermilk
1. Preheat oven to 425°. Sift together the flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda into a large mixing bowl.
2. Using a pastry cutter or two knives, work butter into flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal, then stir in raisins.
3. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add beaten egg and buttermilk to well and mix in with a wooden spoon until dough is too stiff to stir. Dust hands with a little flour, then gently knead dough in the bowl just long enough to form a rough ball. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and shape into a round loaf.
4. Transfer dough to a large, lightly greased cast-iron skillet or a baking sheet. Using a serrated knife, score top of dough about 1/2'' deep in an "X" shape. Transfer to oven and bake until bread is golden and bottom sounds hollow when tapped with a knife, about 40 minutes. Transfer bread to a rack to let cool briefly. Serve bread warm, at room temperature, or sliced and toasted.
It yielded cake batter!
Review your recipe.
It yielded cake batter!
Review your recipe.
Saveur is my choice for authentic recipes. Please call this bread another name and include an authentic Irish Soda Bread recipe. (Here is one: http://www.sodabread.us/)
Thank you!
Just a little extra info-- This recipe is based on an approximation of ingredients as my grandmother (like most Irish women of the time) used to measure by hand. 1 1/2 cups buttermilk to 1 3/4 cups is what we go by in my family.
This recipe is an authentic (nearly 100-year-old recipe), simple, rustic and delicious Irish soda bread. It is not sweet or cakey, and is a dream matched with butter or clotted cream and jam. This same recipe can also be used to make scones. Enjoy!
I got a sloppy mess, almost like a cake batter (like some other reviews), then dumped it back in a bowl added ALOT more flour (a little at a time, over and over). I also had to go to other recipes and add baking powder and a bit more sugar. its in the oven now and I turned down the temp - 425 at 40 minutes would render a burned product in my oven!
Its soda bread, and there's only 1 teaspoon?????
This recipe is NOT ready for prime time. Please test in different environments before releasing.