Monday, February 27, 2017

Easy Irish Soda bread and Blackberry Butter



For those living where the month of March means chilly, gray, and not-quite-Spring days, it's nice to know that come the seventeenth of the month, there's a perfect reason to celebrate and brighten our drab wintry moods. While admittedly not a "major" holiday, St. Patricks Day is such a wonderful way to embrace the vibrance and charm of Irish culture. Of course all the vividly overly green dyed food, funny hats, cheeky sayings, and free flowing liquor, is lots of fun, but for a simpler, low key nod to the Emerald Isle, I thought I'd whip up a basic bread and butter, no green dye needed.

Irish Soda Bread
I was lucky to have found a wonderful cookbook at, of all places, a store in our area called Five Below -yes everything is $5 or less
 The Complete Irish Pub Cookbook. (Parragon Books, UK)  features recipes for classic simple fare, a bit on customs and history  and beautiful photography from around Ireland. For this St. Patrick's I thought I'd give their soda bread a try. While I don't have a great record of baking from scratch, this recipe with only a handful of ingredients, seemed a do-able challenge. I used their basic soda bread instructions (there's a molasses version as well) to make three small loaves instead of the one larger for gifting.
You'll Need
   
3 2/3 cups all purpose flour
more for dusting
oil, cooking spray, or parchment for baking sheet
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 3/4 cup buttermilk 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees
Sift flour, salt and soda in mixing bowl
Create well in center and pour in "most of buttermilk" 
I started with 1 1/4 cup
Mix together with hands until soft but not too sticky, slowly adding additional buttermilk if necessary
Knead on floured surface and divide into three round loaves
cut a deep cross into top
Folklore says this is either to ward off evil spirits or let the fairies out(!) which in either case is more charming than the probable science of baking reason
Bake about 25-30 minutes until golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped on bottom.
Cool on wire rack and serve warm with butter if desired
pop in a basket and serve with berries and coffee or tea or add some
Blackberry Butter, recipe below

Blackberry Butter
In honor of the rambling blackberries which grow all through the Irish countryside, I thought I'd make a flavored butter with a decidedly Irish twist. An online search found many ideas, but I whipped together my own based on a couple recipes.
You'll Need
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 blackberries
2 tablespoons seedless blackberry preserves
2 teaspoons honey
In a mixing bowl whip together butter, preserves and honey.
On a lower speed mix in blackberries so some rustic chunks remain
Keep chilled (letting it sit overnight let's the flavors mingle)
This is one of those non-recipe recipes where different elements can be adjusted to suit your own taste.

Bread Labels
Smaller loaves and mini jars of butter are perfect as little gifts for a friend or neighbor in the spirit of Irish hospitality. I created a label from a photo I took in Ireland ages ago and a charming vintage image from the thegraphicsfairy.com
  

I wrapped each loaf in parchment and tied with a ribbon. Note: scotch tape won't stick on parchment's waxy finish. I then taped the back of the label to the ribbon and added one of those stickers from a stationary set
I scooped the butter into a clean baby food jar 
(Our senior cats love baby food as a treat -
 I checked with vet to see which flavors were ok)
and tied off in a cellophane treat bag


If you're as smitten with Ireland as we are at PennyWise, you can pop over to our previous posts for easy Irish inspired ideas, recipes and a few travel photos
previous posts:

                                                                             
      So delighted to be featured at Imparting Grace!



8 comments:

  1. Dearest Christina,
    I heartily thank you for such a great post, it's always such a treat to come and visit you here, you always put me in high spirits !
    The recipes you share today are so tempting, I'm going to try them, for sure !

    Wishing you a most lovely week

    XOXO Dany

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much Daniela- how sweet!
      The recipes are so very easy, I thought I'd get a bit of an early start on St. Patrick's

      All the best
      Christina

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  2. Thanks so much for stopping by!! This looks really good!!
    Hugs,Debbie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much!
      I always enjoy your linky parties!

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  3. I've wondered how to make Irish soda bread--our family heritage is Irish, but I don't think I've ever made it! Thanks so much for the recipe.

    Thank you for joining the Grace at Home party at Imparting Grace. I'm featuring you this week!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much
      And thanks for hosting your lovely parties!
      This is a very basic one (but super easy)- My mother makes a sweeter one with currants :)

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  4. It was a very good post indeed. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it in my lunch time. Will surely come and visit this blog more often. Thanks for sharing.
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    ReplyDelete

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