GRANDMA DOLORES' IRISH SODA BREAD

Grandma Dolores' Irish Soda Bread image

Provided by HeatherFeather

Time 2h

Yield 8-10 slices

Number Of Ingredients 11

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sweet unsalted butter or 3 tablespoons margarine, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup golden raisins or 1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup dried currant
2 teaspoons caraway seeds (optional)
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice or 2 teaspoons cider vinegar
1 cup milk (scant)

Steps:

Place lemon juice into the bottom of a glass measuring cup and pour in enough milk to fill to the 1 cup mark-Do not stir!
Leave milk on your counter for 1 hour- during this time, measure out all of your other ingredients, but wait to set out the butter until the last 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350F and grease a round cake pan or pie plate.
Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut in the butter chunks until evenly mixed in and mixture looks grainy.
Stir in dried fruits and caraway seeds.
Pour the milk mixture into the bowl and stir with a wooden spoon until all ingredients are moistened- don't overmix.
Dough will still be tacky at this point but will pick up more flour while kneading.
Sprinkle some flour onto a flat surface and scape dough onto the floured surface; flour your hands and knead the dough gently until it forms a ball- no more than 2 minutes or you will toughen the dough, and it may be less than that depending upon the humidity of the day.
(As long as it forms a ball, it can still be little sticky- this is different from yeast bread.) Place dough ball into prepared pan and flatten slightly into a thick disk.
Using a serrated knife, make a deep cross in the surface of the bread.
Bake until golden brown and until bread sounds hollow on the bottom when rapped, about 35-45 minutes.