Irish Soda Bread
Every Irish-American family I know seems to have its own tradition of soda bread, a quick bread whose leavening comes from baking soda rather than yeast—with no two recipes just alike. This recipe is from my mother's family, the Mullallys (the stone carvers, not the funeral directors) and I don't offer it as the definitive "Irish" loaf at all. It's sweeter than most I've tasted, owing to the iberal sprinkling of butter and sugar on the top. It's the one time of year I have occasion to buy buttermilk, although the lady in front of me in line at Dave's was delighted to see I'd found the buttermilk (in fact, I'd had to request it from the dairy manager, who graciously brought some out from the back cooler) as she was shopping for her mom and was going to have to make another stop otherwise. Apparently it's good over cornbread. Can you make it with dark raisins? With less sugar or more? With ground nuts? You may, and you'll be on your way to developing your own family's tradition of soda bread. . .
Irish Soda Bread
4C flour
3T sugar
1T baking powder
1t salt
3/4t baking soda
6T cold butter
1 1/2C golden raisins
2 eggs
1 1/2 C buttermilk
Sift the first five ingredients into large bowl. Cut in butter until it resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in raisins. Pour buttermilk into liquid measure, add eggs and whisk lightly, then pour into crumbs mixture. Dough will be sticky. Knead a few strokes by hand to incorporate stray raisins (you can do this in the bowl), then place dough into well-greased pan--either two 9" loaf pans or a single round casserole. Brush with butter, sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 350 degrees, 1 hr. 20 minutes for the casserole, just 50 minutes for two loaf pans. Ovens will vary, so cheat a bit short on the baking time and check in to see that they are not getting too brown on top. For a crunchy top crust, brush with more butter and sprinkle more sugar about 5 minutes from the end of baking.
Cool in pan 10 minutes, then remove to cooling rack. My mother prefers the loaf pans so the sliced bread is easier to toast, but the loaf I made didn't cool completely and was eaten right up, so I can't testify to the toaster business. The round loaf is the one my Gramma Mullally always made, and so seems more traditional to me. This year will be our second St. Patrick's Day without her; for years she was in the parade, riding in Lolly the Trolley with her fellow Golden Shamrocks of the East Side Irish-American Club, but I'll see her white hair, her green tam and warm blue coat in the corner as they pass by just the same. Enjoy your bread, and may the road rise to meet you.
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