Sweet Irish Soda Bread
Servings: 16
Calories: 200kcal
Equipment
- For this recipe you need an eight inch round pan that is at least three inches high. I use a French white 1½ quart casserole. A souffle dish, a panettone pan or a deep cake pan will work.
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup oil
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder*
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
- 1½ cups buttermilk
- 1 cup dried cranberries, dried cherries**, or currents***
- 1 tablespoon milk for topping
- 1 tablespoon coarse sugar for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°.
- Beat the eggs.
- Add the oil and mix well.
- Add sugar. Beat untll the mixture is thick and lighter colored, about 2 minutes.
- Stir in baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Add one cup of whole wheat flour and mix.
- MIx in half the buttermilk.
- Add second cup of whole wheat flour and mix.
- Add rest of buttermilk and mix.
- Mix in the all purpose flour until smooth.
- Stir in the dried fruit.
- Grease the pan well and pour in the batter.
- Drizzle with 1 tablespoon milk.
- Sprinkle with coarse sugar.
- Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, until a tester in the center comes out clean. If you are using a ceramic pan, check at 1 hour. If the top is browning too quickly, tent with foil.
- After cooling for 5 minutes, run a dull knife around the edge of the pan to loosen.
- Cook on a rack for at least 1 hour before slicing.
Notes
Notes:
- *If you are avoiding baking powder because of corn, use 2 teaspoons baking soda, 1 teaspoon tapioca starch and 1/4 teaspoon salt (omit the baking powder, soda & salt in original recipe)
- ** We find that we like the dried cherries cut in half or thirds so more bites have dried cherries.
- *** If you mix the dried fruit with 1 tablespoon of flour, it may be easier to avoid clumps of dried fruit in the batter.