Soda bread

My Nana's soda bread was always a treat in my house growing up.  We had it for breakfast, for dessert, with tea for an afternoon snack, and everywhere in between.  Soda bread is a (slightly sweetened) quick sweet bread that uses baking soda and baking powder instead of yeast as the rising agent.

Many people have asked me how Irish soda bread actually is, and I always have the same slightly awkward answer.  My Nana's recipe was the one that she learned to make as a girl in Ireland from her mother with out a recipe.  This was one of those things that you eyeballed- used a pinch of this, and a handful of that.  This was how she continued to make soda bread for a very long time, until she was in the paper and had to figure out some measurements.  My mother, for years did not know the soda bread recipe, and had to go hunting for one.  The following is the recipe she found, and that she and I both use, mostly because my Nana uses buttermilk, and I never have that on hand in my dorm room.

Yes I do watch How I met your Mother while baking.

Soda Bread-
1 cup raisins
3 3/4 cups flour

I added a little too much milk for my taste,
but this is an idea of what it should look like.

1/3 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/4 t salt
1 3/4 T baking powder
1 egg
1+ cup milk

1- Heat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 8x8 pan or a cast iron skillet.
2- Optional- But I would recommend trying it!  Pour boiling water over the raisins and let sit for a couple minutes.  Then drain the raisins.  This gets the raisins nice and tender.
3- Sift together flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder.
4- Add the raisins.
5- In another bowl, mix the butter, eggs, and milk.
6- Add the wet to the dry mix and stir together.  This should be a very dry mix, but all the flour should be incorporated.  The best way to do this is mix with your hands after the initial mixing.  Add more milk if needed (The more milk you add, the more you lose the dryness of true soda bread.)
7- Put dough in pan, pressing the edges slightly down so the middle is raised.  Then make an X in the dough with a serrated knife.
7-Cook for 50-55 minutes.
Enjoy!

I like to eat mine toasted with a litte butter on top with a cup of milky tea.  I think plain tastes great too!

As I was pressing the sides down in the pan.

The finished product.