Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour, 35 minutes
Yield: 12 servings
Ingredients:
- 4 cups flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 3/4 tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. caraway seeds
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 cups raisins
Preparation:
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and caraway seeds. In a small bowl, combine eggs, buttermilk and sour cream and beat until smooth. Stir the liquid mixture into flour mixture just until flour is almost moistened; stir in raisins. Knead dough in bowl about 10 to 12 times. The dough will be soft and sticky.
Place the dough in the prepared pan and pat down gently, forming a rounded mound. Cut two 4-inch long and 3/4-inch deep slashes to form a cross in the top of the bread. Bake for 65 to 75 minutes; remove Irish Soda Bread from pan and place on wire rack to cool.
You can also bake this Irish Soda bread in two 8" x 4" loaf pans. Spray the pans with nonstick baking spray containing flour. Bake at 350 degrees F for 50-60 minutes until a toothpick inserted in center of loaves comes out clean.
Or you can bake it free form on a cookie sheet. Just gather the dough into a ball with floured fingers. Shape it into an 8" ball on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45-55 minutes until golden brown. The bread will flatten out a bit, as there is no pan to keep its shape, so it bakes for less time.
