Big Joe Shares Nana Newell’s Famous Irish Soda Bread Recipe

There’s nothing quite like a real Irish soda bread loaded with quality butter, especially to accompany a big Irish breakfast on St. Patrick’s Day.

My cousin Maureen Meahan Kvam gave me this recipe for an excellent Irish soda bread. I adore my cousin Maureen whose great wit and humor made spending time with her so enjoyable. My cousins ​​lived in a big house in Atlantic Highlands that Maureen’s dad, grandfathers and uncles helped build.

I was five or six at the time and lived in the Bronx when I gladly got in the car with my grandfather, uncles, and Maureen’s grandfather, Pop, to the Atlantic Highlands to build. the House. Those days of listening to my grandfather and Pop and Maureen’s Nana were priceless.

I loved coming to Atlantic Highlands to see Maureen and her brother, Chip, and their sisters, but it was always a bonus when Pop and Nana were home. You knew you were going to eat well and you knew you were going to laugh and laugh out loud.

Maureen writes about this great relationship:

My mother’s parents, Nana and Pop, were traveling by bus from the Bronx to Atlantic Highlands for a visit. I was looking forward to their arrival as they always brought those 5 and 10 lollipops which were wrapped in the long cellophane string. Many nights were spent sitting around the dining room table my father had made; having tea and conversations that ultimately produced uncontrollable laughter. I’m now my grandparents’ age, I live in Minneapolis, I sit at my father’s table, I drink tea with my family and friends, and I still burst into laughter! Which gift !

Ingredients:

3 ½ cups flour, sifted
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 ½ cup seedless raisins
1 tablespoon of caraway seeds
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 ½ cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons of melted butter

How to assemble it:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter a loaf pan (or a cake tin for a round loaf). In a bowl, sift all the dry ingredients. Add the raisins and caraway seeds, toss to coat.

In another bowl, combine the eggs, buttermilk and butter. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix lightly.

Put the dough in the mold. Bake for about 1 hour. It’s super hot right out of the oven or sliced ​​and toasted with a little bit of butter and sugar. Serve it with a cup of strong tea and a good conversation.