A couple of years ago, I had the good fortune to get to visit Ireland for a week. It was my first trip to Europe and it couldn’t have been a better place to take my first overseas trip. The sights were beautiful, there is something so humbling about seeing buildings that have been around longer than the country that you live in.
But of course, when I travel, I’m all about the food. And boy did I eat in Ireland. Bangers and mash, fish and chips all chased with a nice tall glass of cider. Delish. Oddly enough, I didn’t have any Irish Soda Bread. In fact, the loaf above is the first time I have ever had Irish Soda Bread.
Irish Soda Bread adapted from Allrecipies
3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups raisins
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 eggs
1 cup whole milk yogurt
In a small bowl, mix together milk and lemon juice. Allow to sit for about 10 minutes to curdle the milk. Here we are making our own buttermilk. If you have buttermilk, omit this step and use 1 cup of buttermilk.
In a large mixing bowl, stir together: all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, and raisins.
In the bowl with the buttermilk, mix together buttermilk, eggs, and yogurt. Pour into flour mixture. Stir to combine. Dough will be thick but wet. Plop dough into a greased cast iron skillet or greased round cake pan. With a sharp knife, cut an X into the top of the dough. Sprinkle the top of the dough with flour.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour. Cool and enjoy. Possibly with some whipped orange honey butter.
