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Irish Soda Bread
How better to celebrate St. Patrick's Day than with a slice of delicious Irish Soda Bread fresh from the oven?
Ingredients:
4 C flour
1 t salt
1 t baking soda (be generous; it's the most important ingredient)
1 T baking powder
1/4 C sugar (a little more if you prefer it sweeter but don't overdo)
1 T caraway seeds (again, more if you prefer it that way)
1 C raisins (revive in hot water if needed but make sure you drain before use)
1 egg, beaten
2 C sour milk, buttermilk, or sour cream (you can sour fresh milk by adding 1 T
white vinegar per cup; sour cream makes a richer tasting bread)
6 t butter, room temperature
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Sift dry ingredients together into a large mixing bowl. Add caraway seeds and raisins
to dry ingredients and combine. Add beaten egg and sour milk (or buttermilk or sour
cream) to mixture. Blend with fork until the dry ingredients are thoroughly moistened.
Grease two 8 inch cake pans or pie plates with 2 teaspoons of butter each. Dust with
flour. (I've fallen in love with Pam's Baking Spray.) Evenly divide the batter between
the two pans.
Bake until golden, approximately 40 to 45 minutes.
Immediately turn the bread onto a rack. Butter the tops of each loaf with 2 teaspoons
of the remaining butter.
Serve warm and enjoy!