Buttermilk Irish Soda Bread with Currants and Orange Zest
What’s better than toasted Irish Soda Bread slathered with Irish grass fed butter and a cup of tea?
This recipe incorporates the sweetness of currants with the tang of orange zest and buttermilk to complement the saltiness of a typical Irish soda bread
I used whole wheat pastry flour, but you can swap all purpose flour for a lighter/less dense bread
You don’t need to wait for St. Patrick’s Day to make this!
This is a quick bread that does not use yeast. It rises from the baking soda used as a leavening agent
Once it is cool enough to handle, I like to slice the soda bread, then toast in a toaster oven, and slather with some good quality Irish grass fed butter
Buttermilk Irish Soda Bread Instagram Tutorial
Buttermilk Irish Soda Bread with Orange Zest and Currants
Ingredients
4 cups whole wheat pastry flour, plus ½ cup set aside
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp coarse salt
4 tbsp unsalted butter – Keep refrigerated until ready to use
1 ½ cups buttermilk – Keep refrigerated until ready to use
1 egg
Zest of one orange
1 cup dried currants
Procedure
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Combine 4 cups flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt in a food processor with pastry blade
Pulse until dry ingredients are combined
Cut cold butter into small pieces, add to food processor, and pulse until butter is incorporated, about 10-15 pulses
In a large bowl whisk buttermilk, egg, and ½ of orange zest
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in ¼ batches, whisking to combine each batch
Dust currants with a small amount of remaining flour and mix – This keeps currants from clumping together
Mix floured currants into dough, which will be very wet
Using remaining flour, turn out dough onto a floured surface, and form dough into a round
Transfer round to a parchment lined baking sheet
Cut an X in the top of the dough, then sprinkle with remaining orange zest
Bake on center oven rack for 45 minutes or until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean
If the Irish soda bread begins to over-brown during the baking process, loosely tent with a piece of parchment
The Irish soda bread should produce a hollow sound when it is done if you give it a tap
Cool on a baking rack before slicing
