Irish Soda Bread with Raisins

I based today's bread on Robert Ditty's Irish Soda Bread Recipe. I love soda bread and have a great recipe (which I haven't yet put online here on OlliesYummyInYourTummy blog) but this one got such hype that I decided to try it.

Verdict: Yummy! It's dense and very filling. I added Thompson raisins to mine, but want to try it with Sultanas which are a bit sweeter.

I had to add quite a bit more flour than called for in the recipe but I can't tell you how much as I just kept sprinkling it on as I kneaded the dough. I stopped when it felt right.

Because I can't get buttermilk where I live, I improvised by adding 2 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice to 2 cups of milk. You could use vinegar or lemon juice to achieve the same result.

Here's what you need:

4 cups of flour (I ended up using approximately 4 1/4 cups)
1 tsp. each of salt, baking powder and baking soda
2 TBSP. sugar
2 cups buttermilk (see my improvised buttermilk above)
about 1/4 cup of raisins rolled in flour (rolling them in flour prevents them from sticking to the bread dough and making lumps of raisin clusters)

Mix the dry ingredients together. Add the buttermilk and raisins and whisk or mix with wooden spoon until a ball of dough begins to form.

Kneed dough for about 2 minutes on a floured surface, then drop into a buttered pie pan (I used an oil spray instead of butter). Form into a nice round ball and then score a big X on top.

Bake in a convection oven at 360' for 30 to 45 minutes. If you don't have convection, increase oven temperature to 375'

Photos below show the process

 

Raisins coated in flour

Kneading the dough on a floured surface

Dough goes into a pie pan (I didn't have one that was suitable so I used an 8x8 inch square pan. Form it into a ball and score the top with an X

Bread done and out of the oven