Irish Soda Bread by Cindy Pascale

Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day a traditional Irish Soda Bread to celebrate the holiday.

But before the recipe, a little background. My late father-in-law was 100% Italian with his parents moving here from Italy. My late mother-in-law was 100% Irish with her parents moving here from Ireland. And they both were Catholic. I was raised Catholic by a Dutch mother and a French father. My family was in the USA for a few generations longer than my husband’s family and by the time I came around, my family was preparing more “American” meals rather than Dutch or French cuisine. Today, my in-laws’ heritage has more of an impact on the meals I prepare and that we eat. So, making Irish Soda bread for St. Patrick’s Day aligns with my husband’s Irish heritage and both of our Catholic upbringing.

With that in mind, the second oldest daughter and I baked Irish Soda bread recently. We made a double batch and cooked one regular loaf and split the rest into two mini-loaves adding raisins to one and Craisins to the other mini-loaf. We like the one with the Craisins best. We adapted a recipe from MP Welty.

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Ingredients Method

Ingredients

Recipe for 1 loaf

4 cups flour
1/2 cup butter softened and 1/4 cup butter melted
4 tbsp sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups buttermilk (you will use 1 cup in the mix and 1/4 cup to brush on top of the loaf before baking)
1 large egg

Optional: stir in 1/2 cup Craisins or raisins

Method

Preheat oven to 375° lightly grease a loaf pan.
Mix flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Cut in the ½ cup softened butter.
Mix together buttermilk and egg. Stir into flour mixture.
Place dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead slightly. Form dough into a loaf and place into prepared loaf pan. The dough will be a little sticky.
Combine melted butter with ¼ cup buttermilk in a small bowl. Brush loaf with this mixture. Use a sharp knife to cut an “X” on the top of the loaf.
Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf come out clean.
About 45 to 50 minutes. Check for doneness starting after 30 minutes. If you have leftover butter & buttermilk, continue to brush the top of the loaf until it runs out.
HAPPY EATING!!