Tuesdays with Dorie: Irish Soda Bread

I'm not gonna lie.  I was not looking forward to this recipe.  I had Irish Soda Bread once, from a grocery store and it was just okay.  I didn't get what the hype was all about.  I just chalked it up to being an Irish thing I wouldn't understand.  For this recipe I was imagining a tasteless (there's only 4 ingredients, how good can it be!?), hard, dry loaf of bread that I would try and pawn off to the guys at work.

Well.  They won't be getting any.

What I loved about this recipe was that it was 4 ingredients.  Except for the buttermilk, everything was on-hand.  It took 5 minutes to mix up and throw in the pie pan.  I wasn't too concerned that it was a little straggly-looking since the recipe said not to knead for long, just shape.  And again, I wasn't expecting much.

I added the "X".

Oh, I just remembered.  I added dried cranberries (since I thought the bread was going to be dry and tasteless).

That's the better side.  I think part of my X went a little too deep and widened out a bit much.  As soon as it cooled enough for me to hold it, I sliced into and try a piece.  It was so good!  I am very pleasantly surprised it had that much flavor.  The cranberries added a little sweetness and tartness to the bread too.  As I began to slice more, I noticed it wasn't fully cooked in the middle so I threw it back in the oven.  It came out fine.

And My Critic says: "This is actually pretty good!" (after picking out the cranberries)  I will definitely be making this again.  It was so simple and delicious!

For this recipe please check out Carla of Chocolate Moosey and Cathleen of My Culinary Mission.  Come back on April 3rd for Pizza Rustica!