Irish Soda Bread and Snapdragon

 

Whether it’s bobbing for apples or making blackbirds fly out of pies, we love to play with our food.

Of all the food games I’ve heard of, the oddest dates back to Jane Austen’s era. It’s called snapdragon.

To play, you scatter a bunch of raisins in a basin, pour brandy over them, douse the room’s lights, and set the brandy aflame. As the eerie blue flames flicker, each person tries to pluck raisins out of the flaming basin and pop them into their mouths.

I think the winner is the person with the fewest burnt fingers.

This was considered a family game, but I can’t imagine anyone encouraging kids to play it today.

A far better use for raisins, particularly around St. Patrick’s Day, is to bake them into this lovely Irish soda bread. It’s easy to make, perfect for breakfast or tea-time. Best of all, there is no risk to your fingers.


Irish Soda Bread
3 cups white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon caraway seeds
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
(or a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice)
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/3 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup of melted butter
1 cup of raisins and/or currants

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the flours, sugar, baking soda, caraway seeds,  pumpkin pie spice, and salt in a bowl. Mix the rest of the ingredients together and add to the dry ingredients. Mix together. You’ll have a moist, sticky batter.

Turn it out onto a floured board and knead until it’s smooth. Divide it in half and shape each half into a round of, roughly, eight inches. With a sharp knife, score the tops of each into quarters. Put them on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for about 45 minutes.
The bread should sound hollow when you tap it on the bottom.

Let the breads cool a bit before you slice them.

Comments

[online doctor]

never heard of this. sounds good though!

[affiliate proram]

Very tempting! I'll try this as soon as I go home. Thanks for sharing it to us. Keep it up

[Jeri Quinzio]

Do try it. It's easy to make and really good. Glad you liked the story. Jeri

[Online Consultation]

Looks mouthwatering. Very interesting history of the recipe. I'd like to try one someday.