Nellie O’Leary’s Irish Soda Bread


Submitted By: Doris McGuire

Ingredients

  • 4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 stick butter, melted
  • 1 1/2 cups raisins
  • 2 tablespoons caraway seeds
  • 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
  • 1 egg, slightly beaten
  • 1 to 3 teaspoons baking soda
  • Instructions


    Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add melted butter and mix. Stir in raisins and caraway seeds. Make a well in center of batter. Combine buttermilk, eggs, and baking soda; pour into well and mix with batter. Pour mixture into a large, well-buttered iron skillet. Use a knife to make a cross on top; moisten with melted butter. Bake at 375º for an hour until bread is golden brown and separates from the side of the skillet.
    This is the recipe of Nellie T. O’Donoghue O’Leary, who came through Ellis Island, N.Y., in 1920 from the Irish village of Rathmore.