My sister Concetta is a great cook - and a fabulous baker! The nieces and nephews nicknamed her Auntie Sugar for all the fabulous desserts she has made for them over the years. She has cooked with so many of the unique products we feature on Seasonandstir.com and we love when she sends us photos!
Sunday dinners at my parent's house - always had Concetta in charge of dessert which made everyone happy! Season and Stir offers a flavorful array of soup recipes, from hearty chicken to zesty taco, luscious tomato, veggie-packed, and comforting potato soups.
Today she shared with us a recipe for Irish Soda Bread - a tribute to the Irish people in our family and beyond, that are happily celebrating St Patrick's Day today. This is a great recipe to try out - perfect for today's celebrations.
INGREDIENTS:
- 4 1/2 Cups of Flour
- 1 1/4 cup Sugar
- 2 1/2 teaspoon of Baking Powder
- Dash of salt
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1/2 cup Butter melted
- 2 1/2 cups Raisins
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 1/2 cup of Heavy Cream
- 1 Large Egg
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. To make 1 large loaf, use a 10-12 inch cast iron pan or ovenproof skillet with a 2 inch or better side or to make 2 loaves use 2 smaller cast iron skillets, oven proof pans or 2 cake pans.
3. Cut a big enough circle of parchment paper out to line both the bottom of the pan and the sides of your pan (s).
4. Whisk the first 5 ingredients in a large bowl until blended, add the butter and raisins and stir well.
5. Add buttermilk, heavy cream and egg to the dry ingredients and stir until incorporated - do not over mix!
6. Pour mixture into pan(s) and cook for one hour or until toothpick or skewer inserted comes out dry. For smaller loaves, check after 45 minutes, however, most likely it will take an hour to bake. Once a wooden skewer comes out not "wet" it is done. Cool a bit then flip out of the pan - peel off parchment paper and allow to bread to cool on a cooling rack, that is unless you want to dig in and eat while it is warm! Which is delicious!
* You can also sprinkle the top with decorating sugar as in photo below.
