Died and Gone to Heaven Irish Soda Bread

"This is not your Mothers' soda bread! It is dense, nutty, and has a wonderful buttermilk taste. I always make it for Christmas morning and of course St. Patricks' Day. This recipe has been adapted from "The Bread Book" by Ellen Foscue Johnson."
 
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Ready In:
1hr 45mins
Ingredients:
10
Yields:
1 loaf
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ingredients

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directions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Put raisins in a bowl and cover with boiling water.
  • Sift dry ingredients into a large bowl.
  • Cut butter into small pieces and mix into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or your fingers until it is course.
  • Beat the egg until very frothy.
  • Beat in the honey until well blended, then add the buttermilk.
  • Drain the raisins well and add raisins and walnuts to flour.
  • Toss to distribute evenly.
  • Gradually pour the liquids in and mix with a large metal spoon so mixture is evenly moistened and you have a heavy, moist batter. Don't use too much liquid; you don't want a wet batter.
  • Don't try to mix completely; it should be rough and lumpy.
  • Grease a heavy loaf pan (original recipe calls for a large cast iron frying pan which also works well).
  • Spoon batter into pan in clumps.
  • Leave the top lumpy.
  • Bake about an hour until the middle is set.
  • If using a fry pan it will not take as long to bake.

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Reviews

  1. I haven't finished baking this (just put it in the oven) but I have a few concerns regarding this recipe. My batter was rather dry---it was more of a biscuit/scone consistency than a thick batter, and some of my flour wasn't moistened at all. I even added an extra 1/4 cup of buttermilk to help things along. Hopefully it work out alright... UPDATE: My bread turned out a little dry on the outside, more crumbly/dark tasting than I'd like, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE the soft interior. The taste was amazing. I think next time I might split my batch into two smaller loaf pans and add even more buttermilk to up the liquid content. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
     
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

I like to bake bread and pizza; Mostly on baking stones. For my 50th birthday my family took me on a mystery ride to the King Arthur Flour shop in Vermont, where I bought a deep dish pizza pan. Now I'll be baking my first pizza in a pan, not on a stone!
 
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