Raisin Soda Bread - Daring Bakers Challenge, February 2012

For this month's Daring Bakers Challenge, Lis of La Mia Cucina, asked us to bake Quick Breads. I m still in a great mood for baking even after the BM, My Oven still hot and running baby! I tried baking Raisin Soda Bread from Joy of Baking. We loved it!!! Seeing the top of bread brown and rising was a sheer bliss!!! Lets hop on to the recipe!

Ingredients

¾ Cup All Purpose flour

¾ Cup Whole Wheat flour

1.5 tablespoons granulated white sugar

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1.5 tablespoon cold unsalted butter, cut in small pieces

½ Cup raisins, I used sun-Maid California raisins (or any dark raisin)

¾ Cup buttermilk (soured milk)

Method

Preheat oven to 190C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
Cut the cold butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture, with a pastry blender or best, your hands, until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs.
Stir in the raisins. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add most of the buttermilk. Using your hands,mix (adding more buttermilk if necessary) until you have a soft moist dough.
Transfer to a lightly floured surface and gently knead the dough into a round. Place the round on your prepared baking sheet and then, with a sharp knife, cut a ¼ inch deep "X" across the top of the bread.

Bake for about 40 - 50 minutes or until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean. You can also test that is fully baked by tapping the bottom of the bread - it should sound hollow. Remove from oven.
The bread tasted heavenly with a blob of butter on top. Loved the Raisins in every bite.