Irish Soda Bread,
American Style
Courtesy King Arthur Flour
Sweeter and more tender than traditional Irish soda bread, this “Americanized” version is sure to please any aficionado of the genre. [See below for high-altitude revisions.]
4 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
5 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 cups milk
1 tablespoon caraway seeds
1 1/2 cups raisins
In a large bowl, sift together the dry ingredients; set aside. In another bowl, cream together the butter or margarine, eggs and sugar till light and fluffy.
Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients alternately with the milk. Stir in the caraway seeds and raisins.
Spoon the batter into a greased deep (9 x 4-inch round) cake pan or springform pan, or a deep angel-food or tube pan. Bake the bread in a preheated 325°F oven for about 1 and 1/2 hours (less in a tube or angel-food pan), or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove the bread from the oven, and cool on a wire rack.
Yield: 1 sweet, moist, crumbly-textured loaf.
Half a loaf is better than no bread
— Irish proverb
Irish Coffee
Coffee or tea are great choices to accompany a slice of soda bread. Here’s a recipe for Irish Coffee, which comes to us courtesy of the Web site www.ireland-information.com.
2 ounces Irish Whiskey
1 teaspoon brown sugar
Freshly made strong black coffee
Double cream, freshly whipped to soft peaks
High-Altitude Adjustments
To adapt this recipe for local conditions, we used King Arthur Flour’s guidelines. Here are the changes we made to Irish Soda Bread, American Style:
- Reduced baking powder from 5 teaspoons to 2 teaspoons
- Reduced baking soda from 1 teaspoon to 1/2 teaspoon
Consult King Arthur Flour’s Web site (www.KingArthurFlour.com) for more recipes and tips on baking at altitude. - The Editors.
Resources
You can purchase King Arthur Flour locally at King Soopers or via King Arthur’s Web site (www.KingArthurFlour.com).