Irish Soda Bread

You vote. I bake!
I think that used to be my motto when I started this blog over 10 years ago. Back then, I had a new voting poll every week! It's actually quite hard to come up with 3 new recipes every time. This morning I tried to find 3 recipes that I wanted to try out. But I found a recipe for "Pretzel Bread", and I honestly don't even want to put it in a poll because I'm afraid it will not win! I want to bake that pretzel bread!

Anywho, I'm so glad the Irish Soda Bread won the poll because I've been wanting to bake one for ages! Every year when St. Patrick's Day comes around, I think to myself "I should make an Irish Soda Bread". I'm fascinated because of the name: Irish? Soda bread? I still haven't figured out if and why it's an Irish recipe, but the recipe uses soda, so hence, Soda Bread.




I love baking yeasted breads, but I like making a quick bread because it cuts time in thirds. Ina Garten uses dried currants in her recipe, which I substituted for dried cranberries because currants are not available in the Netherlands, and substituted the oranges zest for lemon zest. The bread came out as this wonderfully yellow colored loaf with red cranberries. I skipped buying bakery bread for the last few days and eaten this Irish Soda Bread with cheddar cheese. Such a nice lunch-recipe.




Taste: 4 out of 5
Consistency: 4.5 out of 5
Overall appeal: 4.5 out of 5



Irish Soda Bread: Ina Garten

Ingredients:
4 cups all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1½ teaspoon kosher salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch cubes
1¾ cups cold buttermilk, shaken
1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
1 cup dried currants

Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the butter and mix on low speed until the butter is mixed into the flour.
- With a fork, lightly beat the buttermilk, egg, and orange zest together in a measuring cup. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture. Combine the currants with one tablespoon of flour and mix into the dough. It will be very wet.
- Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and knead it a few times into a round loaf. Place the loaf on the prepared sheet pan and lightly cut an X into the top of the bread with a serrated knife. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. When you tap the loaf, it will have a hollow sound.
- Cool on a baking rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.