The Dish: Irish Soda Bread at Greenhill's Irish Bakery

Irish Soda Bread Recipe

By Greenhills Bakery

Ingredients:

1¼ lb all purpose flour

1¼ lb pastry flour

¾ cup sugar

1 Tbl salt

1 Tbl baking soda

2 ½ Tbl cream of tartar

4 ounces margarine

4 ounces vegetable shortening

2 cups raisins - soaked*

3 cups low fat buttermilk

extra flour to sprinkle while forming the bread.

½ cup caraway seeds- optional

Procedure:

Sift all dry ingredients together and put in a large mixing bowl. Cut in the margarine and shortening. Add raisins and caraway seeds if desired. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour in the buttermilk and mix into the dry ingredients. The dough should be moist, but not gooey or runny. Mix just enough to combine the ingredients. (Over mixing will develop the gluten and make the bread tough.) Put dough on a floured board and divide into four equal parts. Knead each just enough to form into a round loaf. You can bake it on a flat pan, or in a pie tin to help keep its form. Dust your pan with flour to help the bread from sticking. Cut a cross in the top of your bread. Bake at 375 degrees approx 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes. The bread should be golden colored, and sound hollow when you tap on the bottom of it.

*Soaking the raisins will ensure that they are moist and soft in the soda bread. Put raisins in room temperature water for 2o minutes (up to 1 hour) and drain off the excess water before adding to the recipe.

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