Irish soda bread

 

I work in a catholic school where lots of staffs and children come from Ireland. Just like Christmas, 40 days of lent leading up to Easter is very special in our school community and there is always food to celebrate. Even on a normal day there is always coffee /tea, cakes and biscuits.  On march 17 th it’s St Patricks day, a special day for Ireland.  On St Patrick's day there is always Irish soda bread, jam and butter in our staffroom. That’s how I got introduced to this wonderful bread. Though it’s called a bread, I would say it’s more like a scone and the best bit is, it is a no knead bread and you can make this in less than 1 hour if u have all the ingredients handy. 

My other connection to Ireland is my sister lives there and I have been lucky to explore the scenic country quite a few times. I love Ireland for its scenery, lovely people and of course for this soda bread and Irish stew 😊 

Recipe for this Irish bread was adapted from Sally’s baking addiction.

 

Ingredients 

Plain flour – 500 gm/ 4 cups 

Unsalted Butter – 70 gm 

Sugar – 40 gm 

Egg – 1 large 

Buttermilk – 375 ml  

Baking soda – 1 tsp 

Raisins – 150 gm 

Salt – ¾ tsp 

 

Method 

In a bowl take flour, salt, baking soda and sugar. Whisk to mix. 

Add cold butter to the flour and mix it until it resembles bread crumbs.  

Add raisins and mix. 

In another bowl take buttermilk, add in one egg and whisk to mix. 

Pour the buttermilk to the flour and fold in and make a rough sticky dough. 

Transfer the dough to a floured surface and gently try to form a ball with dough with your floured hands. Do not overwork the dough. No need to knead. Add more flour if the dough is too sticky. 

Transfer the dough to a greased 9 inch cake tin and score an X on top. 

Bake the bread in a preheated oven 200 degree C for about 45 minutes or until it appears to be cooked through. 

I covered the bread with a foil in the last 10 mins to avoid excessive browning. 

Wait for the bread to cool down for 15-20 mins before you cut.