Erin’s Easy Eats

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!  With a name like Erin, how could I resist something at least vaguley resembling a traditional Irish recipe?  Although I tend not to like soda bread, this recipe from Big Red Kitchen has changed my mind.  It is moist, flavorful, and has a good crust.  Best of all, it takes about 5 minutes to mix up.

• 4 c. flour
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 Tbs butter, cold
• 1 c. dried fruit (I used currants, but more traditional recipes use raisins.  You can use whatever you like.)
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 c. buttermilk
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk + 1 Tbs buttermilk, mixed

Preheat oven to 350 and line a baking stone with parchment paper.  In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.  Cut in butter using a pastry cutter until mixture resembles sand.  Stir in currants until evenly distributed.  In your overly large measuring cup, mix buttermilk, egg, and baking soda.  Pour this all at once into the flour mixture, and stir with a fork until well combined.  Form into about an 8″ dome on the parchment paper, and brush with egg yolk and buttermilk mixture.  Cut a deep cross (about 1/2″) with a sharp knife through the dough.  Bake for 60-65 minutes, rotating pan at 30 minutes.

Tags: baking, bread, recipes