Wholemeal Irish Soda Bread

Top 'o the Morning to You! This wholemeal Irish soda bread is a great way to start off your St. Patrick's Day celebrations for all actual and aspiring Irish folk.

This bread hearkens back to a time when Irish soda bread was a more rustic, country affair, not all gussied up with mostly white flour. Traditionally, the Irish didn't have a lot of white flour, and the loaves were a bit coarser and darker, but also healthier. Let's not wax eloquent over those Medieval white bread loaves whose noble persons so eagerly sought out.  I wonder if they knew that ground chalk was sometimes put in their flour to make it appear whiter.

We're talking about a somewhat large, delicious, nutty-tasting loaf made with wholemeal flour and, yes, a little bit of white flour to lighten up the texture. You can certainly do all wholemeal if you wish.

I like to embellish my loaf with raisins and either caraway, anise, or even fennel seeds for a unique taste, and to really gild the lily, some homemade or good-quality strawberry jam and butter.

This would be very appetizing for either breakfast — in which case it's best made the day before — or afternoon tea. You can see in this photo how the bread should look, and do make sure it is a deep golden brown to ensure that it has baked through.

Wholemeal Irish Soda Bread Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup butter or shortening
• 3 cups wholemeal flour (I used King Arthur Flour's Irish Wholemeal Flour)
• 1 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup raisins, preferably golden (if you like raisins, you can certainly add up to 3/4 cup)
• 1 tsp caraway, fennel, or anise seeds, whichever you have

Directions: 

Sue Van Slooten teaches cooking and baking classes at her home on beautiful Big Rideau Lake, Ontario, Canada.