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3 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 6 tablespoons sugar

Currant Soda Bread

6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed

cup currants 1 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 425 Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone baking mat. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, salt and sugar. Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Stir in the currants. Make a well in the mixture and add the buttermilk. Stir together with a wooden spoon until mixture is combined. It will be a loose dough that rather resembles thick oatmeal. Turn the dough out onto a floured sheet of wax paper or parchment paper. Dust a bit more flour over the top of the dough. Pat the dough into an 8 round then invert onto the lined baking sheet. Dust on a bit more flour and form back into an 8 round. Using a sharp knife, cut an x into the top of the dough. Bake in the middle of the oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean and the bread is golden brown.

Serves 12

Adapted from Currant Soda in Clare Connery, In an Irish Country Kitchen: A Cooks Celebration of Ireland (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992), 132-133 and Irish Soda Bread in Adrian Bailey, Recipes: The Cooking of the British Isles (New York: Time-Life Books, 1969), 18.