Irish Soda Bread

Recipe origin: Ireland

Ingredients

• 4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup raisins
• 2 Tablespoons caraway seeds
• 1 cup buttermilk

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
2. Mix flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Add raisins and caraway seeds.
3. Add buttermilk all at once and mix.
4. Knead the dough on a lightly floured board. (To knead, press the dough flat, fold it in half, turn the dough, and repeat.) Form into a round loaf on a well-greased baking sheet.
5. With a knife, carefully mark an X across the top of the loaf. Lay a piece of foil over the loaf. Bake for 5 minutes.
6. Lower heat to 250°F and bake 30 minutes more. Remove foil and bake another 10 minutes, until the loaf is slightly browned.
7. Cut into wedges and serve with butter.

Serves 10 to 12.

This classic Irish quick bread uses baking soda (as the name implies) as its leavener. It's usually made with buttermilk and is speckled with currants and caraway seed. Before baking, a cross is slashed in the top of the loaf. The purpose of the cross, legend says, is to scare away the devil.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: round loaf made with soda and buttermilk; often containing caraway seeds and raisins