Irish Soda Bread

I'm Irish. I really am. I remember every year how my grandma who is the Irish matriarch on my dad's side says St. Pat's Day is her special day. She is always decked out in all green, with plenty of "Kiss Me I'm Irish" jokes and lovin'. I really don't know that much about the Irish traditions, or really know the importance to Saint Pat himself, but I do think that March 17th is a fun day to celebrate whatever your saint patrick's day tradition is. And besides, you got to have a "holiday" in the early spring just to get through to the warmer weather. Not to mention the green beer of course, not that I am drinking any, being gluten-free and all. I just think it is funny. I remember being a kid growing up in Chicago, and being a bit confused at an early age about the green beer and if that was what was making the Chicago River turn green as well. I'm here to tell you that the river is NOT drinkable...

I'm just going to say...I really like this soda bread. It is a simple, no-yeast bread that is great to have with jam and tea because it is not too sweet at all and it's so easy. The funny thing is that the baking powder is really the ingredient that helps with most of the rising, along with the "cultured-coconut milk" which acts more like a buttermilk type of ingredient. It really rises and turns into a hearty "loaf" of bread. So, whether you are Irish or not doesn't really matter, but if you are looking for a yummy tea bread to warm up your life, then I would say try this today. It is festive too, so why not right?

I hope you try it out and enjoy!

Irish Soda Bread Recipe

(Inspired by Karina at glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com, with a few twists of my own)

1 cup of sorghum flour

1/4 cup of sweet rice flour

1/4 cup of millet flour

1/2 cup of potato starch

3 TB of sucanat (unrefined cane juice dehydrated)

1 ts. of baking soda

2 ts of baking powder

1 ts. of sea salt

2 ts. of xanthan gum

2/3 cup of coconut milk

1/4 cup of hot water

1 lemon juiced in the milk to let it culture for a few minutes

1 ts. of fresh lemon zest

1 farm fresh egg

2 TB of raw honey

3 TB of Spectrum Organic Shortening

1/2 cup of large California raisins

1 egg-white water wash over the pre-cooked, pre-cut loaf.

Mix all of the dry ingredients together, and then add the cultured milk and egg, and finally fold in the organic palm oil shortening to have a solid bread batter. Pour into a well greased 8 inch pie glass pan. Brush an egg-wash and water mix over the top of the batter. Pat the bread smooth in the pan, and then take a sharp knife and cut a cross on the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. The bread should be golden and crusty on the top and fluffier in the middle. Make sure it is baked all the way through and enjoy warm from the oven!

Much love and peace to you today!