Recipes

Margaret O'Sullivan's World Famous Irish Soda Bread

Bread  Fruit Bread  Misc. Bread  St. Patrick's Day 

• Cooking Time: 1 hour
• Preparation Time: 20 minutes
• 4 Cups flour
• 1/3 Cup sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking power
• 3/4 Cup butter
• 1/2 pound raisins, rinsed and well drained
• (also good with dried cranberries or cherries)
• 2 tsp caraway seeds (optional)
• 1-1/4 cup buttermilk
• 2 eggs beaten

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and baking powder in large mixing bowl. Work in butter until texture of course crumbs. Stir in raisins and caraway seeds. Create a well in the center and to that add buttermilk and eggs in mix to combine well. Knead with lightly floured hands several minutes. Shape into a round and place in a lightly floured (not greased) 10 inch round baking pan. (She used a cast iron fry pan.) Cut cross into top with lightly floured knife. Bake about one hour to one hour 10 minutes until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Great warm with butter, toasted with butter, toasted with peanut butter, cold with jam... It is just good stuff!

My mom was born and raised in Ireland. Making soda bread was something she always did. My parents were very active in the Irish Community in Detroit (back in the day when Detroit was a great city) and most of the women in this community swore by my mom's recipe for soda bread. Before she died, she gave me what may have been her proudest possession....the article published on the front page in the March 1973 Food Guide of The Detroit Free Press entitled "Good Food, Good Spirits, Good Day," (in honor of St. Patrick's Day, of course), which contained several different recipes from several different women but the first recipe was "Margaret O'Sullivan's Irish Soda Bread." I am proud to share it with you.

Author: My Mom