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Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

Over the weekend my friends and I decided to celebrate St. Patrick’s day by making a “traditional” Irish dinner. My friends Daniel and Katie made the bulk of the meal including corned beef and cabbage. Pete brought the all important Guinness and for my contribution I tried my hand at making Irish Soda bread for the first time.

I found the recipe in my favorite Martha Stewart ‘s Baking Handbook. Making Irish soda bread is a lot like making scones, only wetter and a lot bigger. You start off by whisking dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl and then add very cold butter and incorporate with a pastry blender, stir in raisins, and then finish off by adding in wet ingredients. It’s very easy and doesn’t even involve an electric mixer. The only part that I considered a little difficult was transferring the dough from the bowl to a parchment lined sheet tray. Since the dough was so wet, I found it easiest to make the transfer by holding the bowl above the pan and sliding it out with a spatula. Once the dough was on the pan I brushed it with an egg wash, sliced the shape of an “X” and baked it for about an hour.

I’ve always wanted to be 100% Irish (I’m only 1/4) and to celebrate and be proud of my heritage, but hey I am what I am and I can still celebrate! Dinner was a success and the soda bread was good with the dinner and then toasted with butter for the following breakfasts.

Irish Soda Bread

(Martha Stewart)

4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 tablespoons caraway seeds (I didn’t have these so I omitted them)

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold

2 cups golden or dark raisins

1 1/2 scant cups buttermilk

1 large egg

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 large egg yolk

1 tablespoon heavy cream

Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and caraway seeds until well combined.

Using a pastry cutter or two knives in scissor fashion, cut in butter until the mixture feels like coarse meal. Stir in raisins until evenly distributed.

In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk, egg, and baking soda until well combined. Pour buttermilk mixture into the flour-and-butter mixture all at once, and stir with a fork until all the liquid is absorbed and the mixture begins to hold together. It should resemble a rough biscuit dough. Using your hands, press the dough into a round, dome-shaped loaf about 8 inches in diameter. Lift the loaf from the bowl, and transfer it to the prepared baking sheet.

In a small bowl, mix the egg yolk and cream together. With a pastry brush, brush the egg wash over the loaf. With a sharp knife or razor, incise a cross, about 1/2 inch deep, into the top of the loaf. Transfer to the oven. Bake, rotating halfway through, until it is deep golden brown and a wooden skewer comes out clean when inserted into the center, about 70 minutes. Remove from oven, and transfer bread from the baking sheet to a wire rack to cool.

Tags: holidays, Irish Soda Bread, raisins, St. Patrick's Day
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