I’ve been feeling a little sorry for myself this last week as I recouperate from my foot surgery. I am not the most patient person when I’m not able to get around and do as I please. And it hasn’t helped that I told my husband to go fishing for the weekend, and to make things easier, we boarded Bella at Doggie Daycare until Monday. It’s been a cold, dreary weekend, and I’ve been lonely.
This afternoon I decided I needed some comfort food. I knew I wanted to bake (I had already built a fire to keep warm, so the oven being turned on would be a bonus.), but knew it would have to be something that took almost no time to put together. Then I thought of Irish Soda Bread. I hadn’t made it in years, so I went to Epicurious.com to find a recipe. The recipes were simple, with most ingredients you would have on hand. I didn’t have buttermilk, but I used 1/2 skim milk and 1/2 heavy cream, and added a tablespoon or so of lemon juice.
The bread was just what I needed. Lightly sweetened, with soft golden raisins throughout. With butter melting on top, and a nice dollop of jam, it was perfect.

Irish Soda Bread with Raisins Bon Appétit | February 2005
Yield: Makes 1 loaf
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
2 cups all purpose flour
5 tablespoons sugar, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons butter, chilled, cut into cubes
1 cup buttermilk
2/3 cup raisins
Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray 8-inch-diameter cake pan with nonstick spray. Whisk flour, 4 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in large bowl to blend. Add butter. Using fingertips, rub in until coarse meal forms. Make well in center of flour mixture. Add buttermilk. Gradually stir dry ingredients into milk to blend. Mix in raisins.
Using floured hands, shape dough into ball. Transfer to prepared pan and flatten slightly (dough will not come to edges of pan). Sprinkle dough with remaining 1 tablespoon sugar.
Bake bread until brown and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool bread in pan 10 minutes. Transfer to rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.