This afternoon I baked another three five-pound loaves of Irish Soda Bread, only this time doubling my recipe with a few variations. The basic structure of the bread is very similar to biscuit dough – slightly moist and a bit crumbly. In making the larger batch, I softened a cube of butter for each loaf rather than pinching and mashing in cold butter; this seemed to have the same effect (creating a crumb-like mixture that came together once the buttermilk was added). I also added a few pinches of sugar and brushed the tops of the split loaves with another mix of melted butter and buttermilk.

 

The loaves came out nearly perfect, wonderful with another pat of butter and a steaming cup of tea. Since the recipe worked so well, I plan on adding the variation to the Bread & Breakfast page at Shenanchie’s Kitchen when I update next week.