TWD: Baking with Julia - Irish Soda Bread

Since the month of October had 5 Tuesdays, the TWD powers-that-be decided that on the final Tuesday the bakers could catch up on a recipe they might have missed!  I thought this was wonderful, since I joined the TWD group a couple of months late and thus have several recipes to make to catch up!  For this month, I decided to "rewind" with Irish Soda Bread.

This recipe was originally made by the TWD bakers on March 20, 2012, and was hosted by Carla of Chocolate Moosey and Cathleen of My Culinary Mission.  You may find the recipe on these two blogs, or on page 214 of Baking with Julia.  And I highly recommend that you do go find that recipe.

This is an amazingly easy bread to make and it is totally adaptable to whatever flavors you might want to add.  The original recipe has only 4 ingredients:  flour, baking soda, salt and buttermilk.  I added a cup of raisins and several dashes of good cinnamon to my bread.  Essentially, you mix the ingredients together, knead it a bit, shape it into a loaf and bake it.  SIMPLE.  It comes out with a nice crust and a soft yet somewhat dense center.  The recipe claims that if you do not eat it the day it is made it might turn into a hard rock, but this was not the case for me.  I wrapped it tightly in plastic wrap, then sliced and served it the next day and it was as good as the day it was made! 

I served it slathered in European butter, though it would have also been mighty tasty with a dallop of apple butter...  Mmmm.

Seriously, once I made this bread and saw how incredibly simple it was, I started thinking of other ingredients to add to change it up some.  How about green onions and Parmesan cheese? Or, forget the green onions and add a medley of different cheeses for a savory bread?   You could even add some prosciutto or something with the cheese...    Or go back to a sweeter variety and add dried cherries and almonds, or apricots and white chocolate...  The options are endless.

If you happen to have a little person in your life, this would be a perfect bread to make together.  It is really that easy and is fast enough to throw together to hold even the shortest attention span!  

Make this bread.  You will amaze yourself and your friends with your amazing bread making abilities.  We'll keep it a secret between us just how easy this recipe really is!

If you are interested in what other bakers might have made for their "rewind" week, visit the Tuesdays with Dorie blog and click on the tab that says Rewind!  That is where all the bakers put links to their blogs and may have a few short sentences about their creations!  I can't wait to see what everyone else did!