| « Friday Foodporn: Russian Tea Time | At the Family Farmed Expo » |
Recipe Fri Mar 12 2010
Great Aunt Helen's Irish Soda Bread
OK, so maybe you don't have a Great Aunt Helen, but I do and her soda bread rocks! Making soda bread it's easy, it's delicious, and around St. Patrick's Day it's a must at everyone's table.
Great Aunt Helen's Irish Soda Bread
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon sugar
1 stick of butter, softened
2 cups buttermilk
1 cup raisins
Preheat the oven to 350.
Begin by sifting all the dry ingredients together and cutting the butter into the flour mixture (use a pastry cutter or a fork) until a pebbly dough forms. Make a crater with the dough and pour the two cups of buttermilk in the center and gently mix. Add in the cup of raisins (if you love raisins, you can add more than just one cup) and mix.
Grease and flour a round cake pan (the size is your preference). Using your hands, pat the dough into the pan. Cut a cross into the top of the dough. Cutting a cross into the bread dough is an important step, practically it helps air circulate and allow the dough to rise but Irish tales will tell you the cross is to keep the devil away, or even to let the fairies escape (though I'm not sure why fairies are in the dough...), regardless, put the cross in the bread!
Bake for 40 - 45 minutes or until golden brown.
Allow to cool briefly but serve the bread warm and with a nice pat butter.
Caroline / March 12, 2010 2:11 PM
I prefer white raisin's in my soda bread, and have a grandma Helen born in Ireland whose recipe is a bit different but I'm not sharing because it's a family secret!