Recipe 38- Irish Soda Bread

                                                               IRISH SODA BREAD

4 C of flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 C of sugar
3/4 C of butter
1 C of raisins
1 tablespoon of caraway seeds
1 2/3 C of buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add raisins and seeds and toss lightly. Add buttermilk and toss mixture with a fork until all dry ingredients are moistened. Dough will be very soft.

Form dough into a ball and lightly knead on a floured board for several minutes. Divide dough into equal portions and shape into a ball. Place them on a cookie sheet and with a sharp knife cut an X on top of each loaf about 1/4 inch deep. Bake for 55 minutes.

Ratings (out of five)
Difficulty *
Taste ****

Each week at Caroline's CCD class at St. John Vianney's Catholic Church in Walnut Creek, a student is assigned to bring bread.  The class breaks the bread together and the class begins.  Caroline was assigned to bring bread on St. Patrick's Day. She brought our homemade Irish Soda Bread.  She and I have made this recipe before and it has always been successful.  It was a success yesterday as well!

My mother's recipe is typed on a piece of faded paper which is ripped in half.  The recipe contains handwritten notes in my mother's handwriting.  I like this recipe for soda bread because the bread is nice and moist.

I served corned beef, cabbage, and red potatoes and had the soda bread that was leftover from Caroline's class as a dessert.  This is our family's traditional St. Patrick's Day meal.