Bake Sale #8 – Irish Soda Bread

 
The school is on a bake sale roll.  Bake Sale #7 was just 2 weeks ago, and this week there are 2 more fundraising events with requisite bake sales, making those #8 and #9.  I have decided that for at least one of them I will take advantage of the St. Patrick’s Day holiday and make an Irish Soda Bread.  I realize that I am not following all the lessons I have learnt from bake-sales-past, i.e.:  the most sweet, least healthy, and preferably most artificially colorful treats will sell with greater fervor.  Sigh, I know, and for #9 I might go down that road.  For #8, however, I seize the opportunity for an excuse to make delicious Irish Soda Bread.

Irish Soda Bread is a quick bread that is cooked in a skillet (preferably cast iron) in an oven.  Rather than yeast, baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is used for leavening.  It reacts with the lactic acid in buttermilk to form tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide which enable the bread to rise.  Traditionally, the Irish climate is not conducive to the growth of hard wheat, which is made into a flour that rises with yeast.  Rather, traditional Irish soda bread calls for soft wheat flour, such as cake or pastry flour which contain less gluten and relies on baking soda to rise.  The additional ingredients of currants or raisins and caraway (cumin seed) lend a characteristically savory and mildy sweet component to this delicious bread, best eaten warm from the oven or toasted within a day or two of baking.

In a medium bowl lightly whisk together buttermilk and egg.  Add to flour mixture, stirring to combine with a wooden spoon. Pour into prepared skillet, smoothing top.  With a sharp knife lightly coated with flour, make a 1″ deep X-incision across the top of the dough.  Bake in oven until tester inserted comes clean, about 1 hour.  Cool in skillet for 10 minutes.  Turn onto rack and cool completely.