Orange-Cranberry Soda Bread with White Chocolate

Oh ya’ll! I have a confession to make…I love bread. No – I mean I LOOOVE bread. I love to bake it and I especially love to eat it! (South Beach be damned!!!) And I really love traditional Irish Brown Bread and Soda Bread. Can.not.get.enough! But this Orange-Cranberry Soda Bread with White Chocolate has quite possibly risen above any soda bread I’ve had the pleasure of scarfing down.

Now I visited Ireland back in October of last year and I assure you I was eating all of the bread that came my way. Yesterday I told you about the lovely town of Trim. Today, I’ve got to tell you all about our visit to Brú na Bóinne, translated Valley of the Boyne, a short drive away from Trim. This World Heritage Site, located in a bend of the River Boyne, is over 5,000 years old. Older than the pyramids! It is most famous for the spectacular Megalithic Passage Graves of Knowth, Newgrange and Dowth. These ceremonial structures are among the most important neolithic sites in the world and contain the largest selection of Neolithic art in Western Europe.

I had visited when I was in college, but now there is a fantastic interpretive center in which you can learn about Neolithic culture and the monuments before boarding a shuttle bus for a tour. Knowth has an unrivaled collection of megalithic art.

You can actually go inside Newgrange! You walk down a narrow passage way (good thing I went down this passage way on the second day of our visit. By the end of the holiday, after all the bread and pints, I may not have been able to squeeze down it!) and into the burial chamber, which has the original waterproof corbelled roof. Each year on December 21st (Winter Solstice) a single shaft of light from the rising sun enters the roof box above the door and travels down the passage way to light up the chamber. Truly extraordinary! Make sure you book tickets when you visit.

But let me get back to today’s featured recipe: Orange-Cranberry Soda Bread with White Chocolate.

Now, I know this is not traditional Irish Soda Bread, but whoo howdy, this bread would likely stop St. Patrick in his tracks!

It is sweet, shot through with white chocolate chips, orange zest and tangy cranberries, yet it’s not too sweet. It is hearty, with a little tooth from that Irish style flour, but still has a tender crumb.

And toasted with a smear of butter? Get out!!!

• Servings: One 7-inch round loaf
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

recipe very slightly adapted from: Christopher Kimball’s 177 Milk Street

Ingredients:

• 210 grams (1 1/2 cups) Dried Cranberries, roughly chopped
• 1 Tablespoon grated Orange zest, plus 2 Tablespoons Orange juice
• 1 3/4 Cups Buttermilk
• 325 grams (2 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 105 grams (3/4 cup) King Arthur Baking Irish style Flour
• (can sub in whole wheat flour if you prefer)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon table salt
• 113 grams (4 ounces) white chocolate chips
• 2 Tablespoons melted butter to brush over the top of loaf before baking
• White sparkling sugar (optional)

Directions:

Place the rack in the middle position in your oven and preheat to 400F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment.

In a medium microwave-safe bowl, stir together the cranberries and orange juice. Microwave, uncovered, on high for 1 minute, stirring once halfway through. Stir again, then set aside until cooled to room temperature. In a liquid measuring cup, stir together the orange zest and buttermilk.

In a large bowl, whisk together both flours, the baking soda and salt. Add the cooled cranberries and the white chocolate; toss until the ingredients are evenly distributed. Make a well in the middle of the mixture and pour in the buttermilk. Using a silicone spatula, fold the buttermilk into the flour mixture until a rough, shaggy dough forms; it’s fine if the dough still shows some dry, floury patches.

Lightly flour the counter and turn the dough out onto it, then flour the top of the dough as well. This is a sticky dough!Using your hands and a metal bench scraper, gently and lightly fold the dough a few times just until cohesive; do not knead it. Flour your hands and using a light touch, shape the dough into a ball as best you can. With a bench scraper, loosen it from the counter, transfer it to the prepared baking sheet.

Cut a cross, about 3/4″ deep into the top of the bread. Paint the entire top of the loaf with melted butter. Sprinkle with sparkling sugar if desired.

Bake until the bread is a deep golden brown, about 35 -40 minutes. It should sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet set upon a wire rack. Afterwards transfer bread to the rack to cool completely. Try your best to wait 1 whole hour before slicing!

Enjoy!

Useful links for Kitchen Tools & Ingredients for Orange Cranberry Soda Bread with White Chocolate:

King Arthur Baking Irish Style Flour – ideal for baking Ireland’s brown and soda breads.

Prepworks Progressive Pocket Zester

Stainless Steel Flour Shaker

NordicWare Bench Scraper

Travel Planning Guide:

Getting there: Icelandair! We love Icelandair and have always had great experience with them. Icelandair flies to Dublin, Ireland. Take advantage of their Stopover program on your next flight to Europe.

Car Rental: New Way Car Hire – Love the all-inclusive pricing on these cars as well as the Dublin Airport pickup!

Activities:

Brú na Bóinne Visitor Center – All access to Newgrange and Knowth is by guided tour only, with tours beginning at the visitor center. Make sure to book in advance as tickets do often sell out! I highly recommend visiting. It was truly extraordinary!

 

St. Patrick’s Day Recipe Roundup!

Oh my goodness ya’ll…St. Patrick’s Day is only 7 days away. Tomorrow I will be starting my annual St. Patrick’s Day blog-a-thon. Yup, I’ll be sharing one lovely Irish-y recipe everyday with you, right up to the big day Wednesday March 17th! Now I think managing to publish one recipe daily for seven days straight is a pretty impressive feat. But, a few years ago I was completely mad and used to start on March 1st and do a new recipe each day until March 17th. That is why you can find over 100 delicious St. Patrick’s Day recipes on my blog. If you’d like to take a peek at my past St. Patrick’s Day posts, you can click Runcible Eat/Recipes up at the top navigation bar and scroll down to the St. Patrick’s Day category. That’s where you’ll find them! And stay tuned here for my latest additions this year. Today I thought I might inspire you with some of my favorite St. Patrick’s Day dishes from years past. We’ll start it off with some bread:

• 

  Classic Irish Soda Bread

• 

  Theresa’s Prize-Winning Scones w/Strawberry Jam & Clotted Cream

Classic Irish Soda Bread & Theresa’s Scones

And here are some drool worthy mains:

• 

  Chicken Skink

• 

  Guinness Braised Beef Sandwiches on Waterford Blaa

• 

  Irish Ale Potato Cheddar Soup w/Beer Battered Leeks

• 

  Crock Pot Corned Beef & Cabbage Soup

• 

  Dublin Coddle

• 

  Guinness Beef Stew

• 

  Irish Stew

• 

  Smithwick’s Beef & Cheddar Pies

Chicken Skink, Guinness Beef Sandwiches, Potato Cheddar Soup, Corned Beef & Cabbage Soup, Dublin Coddle, Guinness Beef Stew, Irish Stew, Smithwicks Beef & Cheddar Pies

I wouldn’t want to forget the sides:

• 

  Corned Beef & Irish Cheddar Potato Nests

• 

  Champ

Corned Beef Potato Nests & Champ

And take a peek at these decadent desserts:

• 

  Baileys Bite sized Cheesecakes

• 

  Chocolate dipped Baileys Pistachio Shortbread

• 

  Guinness Pretzel Truffles

• 

  Guinness Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 

  Baileys Salted Caramel Pots de Crème w/Baileys Whipped Cream

Baileys Cheesecakes, Baileys Shortbread, Guinness Truffles, Guinness Chocolate Chips, Baileys Pots de Crème

And last but not least…something to wash it all down with:

• 

  Irish Whiskey Marmalade Cocktail

• 

  Guinness Hot Chocolate topped w/ Homemade Guinness Marshmallows

• 

  Whiskey & Orange Oat Cream Toddy

Whiskey Marmalade Cocktail, Guinness Hot Chocolate, Whiskey Toddy

Is your mouth watering yet? Quite the galleries of goodies if I do say so myself. And there are many more recipes to be found on my blog as well as seven new ones starting tomorrow! Don’t miss out!

P.S. I tried to get links to the recipe added to the pictures, but with my limited skills, was unable to make it work. You can find links to the pictured recipes in the gallery captions. Sorry ’bout that!

Irish Onion Soup with Irish Cheddar Soda Bread Croutons

I don’t know how the weather is in your neck of the woods, but around here there is really no sign of Spring. That groundhog varmint was right and we have been firmly in the grip of an arctic vortex with temperatures lower than they have any right to go here in the supposed southern state of Virginia. The latest go round of snow and frigid temps really had me craving a big bowl of French Onion soup. But since St. Patrick’s Day is nigh, I decided to Irish it up a bit. Just how do you do that you might ask. Well, how about adding in a splash or two of Irish Whiskey (you know my brand by now right – Jameson’s) and a glug or so of Irish Stout.

This is where I’m going to get a little tricky on you though. I know a veritable river of Guinness has been flowing out of my kitchen lately. It is the Irish stout that is most widely known and I’m a fan. However, I went to college in Cork, Ireland and in that part of the country, Guinness is not King. Murphy’s Irish Stout– aka The Rebel Stout holds court there. You see Murphy’s Stout is similar to Guinness but a bit less heavy and with fewer bitter notes. It has been brewed in Cork since 1856. Why is it called “The Rebel Stout”? That has to do with its County Cork origins. Historically, Cork has been known as the Rebel County, a name it acquired due to the prominent role it played in the Irish War of Independence (1919-21) as well as the fact that it was an anti-treaty stronghold during the Irish Civil War (1922-23). Murphy’s Irish Stout is widely distributed outside of Ireland and you could likely easily find it at your local grocery, especially this close to St. Patrick’s Day. Next time you see it, grab some and give it a taste. You could even do a stout tasting with Guinness, Murphy’s and a few of your local brews. Sounds like fun huh? But I guess I should get back to this soup. Having spent all that time in Cork, I feel I would be remiss if I didn’t give Murphy’s a shout out.

I used it for this Irish Onion soup and I couldn’t have been more pleased! The malty notes from the Murphy’s Irish Stout gave this soup quite a rich and deep flavour. Yet, it still wasn’t quite Irish-y enough for me. So instead of topping my onion soup with the usual toasted french baguette slice, I baked up some mini Irish soda bread loaves which I split in half and used in lieu of the french standard.

Topped with grated Kerrygold Cheddar Cheese, you have a crouton worthy of this hearty Irish Onion Soup. guaranteed to warm you on the most polar vortex-y of days.

Irish Onion Soup

recipe adapted from: The Fox & She

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients:

• 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• 4 medium yellow onions, sliced in rings
• 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1/3 cup Irish Whiskey (Jameson!)
• 3 Tablespoons flour
• Pinch kosher salt, plus 2 teaspoons
• 1 cup Stout Beer, Murphys or Guinness
• 6 sprigs thyme
• 12 cups beef stock
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• Thick slices Irish Soda Bread (recipe to follow)
• grated Irish Cheddar Cheese

Directions:

In a heavy bottomed pan, melt the butter, cook onions over medium to medium-low heat for 1 hour, stirring every so often.

Add whiskey, flour and pinch of salt. Cook for 4 minutes, stirring often. Add garlic, cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes.

Add Murphy’s (or Guinness) and simmer until reduced by 1/3, about 5 minutes.

Add broth, thyme, pepper and remaining salt. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Remove thyme sprigs.

Ladle into oven safe bowl and top with 1/2 of mini soda bread loaf and grated irish cheddar. Place under the broiler until cheese is bubbly and toast is browned. Be Careful! Some broiler are nuclear hot and will burn everything to a cinder if you turn your back for a second! (If you can’t do the broiler thing, just toast the soda bread, melt cheese over the top and then add to irish soup.)

Mini Irish Soda Breads

recipe adapted from: King Arthur Flour

yield: 6 mini loaves

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups (10 ounces) King Arthur Irish-Style Wholemeal Flour (9 3/4 ounces) *
• 1 1/4 cups (5 1/4 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour
• 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 ounces) sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick, 2 ounces) cold butter, cut into 8 pieces
• 1 1/3 cups (10 5/8 ounces) buttermilk
• 1 large egg
• flaked sea salt
• melted salted butter to brush top of loaves

Directions:

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the flours, sugar, baking soda and salt. Using a mixer, a pastry fork or blender, or your fingers, cut in the butter until it is evenly distributed and no large chunks remain.

In a separate bowl (or in a measuring cup) whisk together the buttermilk and egg. Pour this mixture into the dry ingredients and mix to combine. The dough will be stiff; if it’s too crumbly to squeeze together, add another tablespoon or two of buttermilk.

Knead the dough a couple of times to make sure it’s holding together. If you are making individual mini loaves, divide into 6 equal sized pieces. ( 5 ounces each).  Shape each it into a ball. Flatten the ball slightly, and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Use a sharp knife to cut a cross, extending all the way to the edges, atop each loaf.

Bake the bread in a preheated 400°F oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until it’s golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove the bread from the oven, and brush the top with melted butter and sprinkle with flaked sea salt.

Enjoy!

* If you don’t have time to order your King Arthur Irish-Style Wholemeal Flour and you aren’t in Ireland with immediate access to Irish Wholemeal Flour, you can substitute in 10 ounces of King Arthur 100% White Whole Wheat Flour

**Recipe will also make 1 large loaf of Irish Soda Bread if you would rather not be bothered with the mini loaves 🙂

Irish Soda Bread

Another favourite of mine, Irish Soda Bread… slathered with butter of course. Yum! This bread is actually quite easy to make. I used cake flour, rather than all-purpose flour in the mixture because I had read somewhere that Irish flour is of finer consistency than our all-purpose flour. I think the all-purpose would likely be fine though. Once your dough is all mixed up and you’ve formed your loaf or two smaller loaves if you so choose, don’t forget to cut a cross in the top of each loaf about 1″ deep.

 

1 loaf about 6"-6 1/2" diameter.

Letting the fairies out!

I’ve heard various reasons as to why you do this. Some say it helps the bread cook evenly. I’ve also heard it is done as a blessing to keep the devil away. My favourite reason is that you cut a cross in to allow the fairies to escape! Once your crosses are cut, remember to brush the top of the loaves with a milk/egg wash mixture and sprinkle with raw or Demerara sugar. Bake at 400° F for 15 minutes and then reduce the temperature to 375° F and bake for a further 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Hot out of the oven

I’ve also been told that if you wrap the loaves in a damp tea towel while they are cooling on the wire rack, they will be much moister. Enjoy!

Bread under wraps

Irish Soda Bread

2 1/2 cups cake flour ( I think all-purpose would work fine as well)

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

3 Tablespoons sugar

1/2 Cup butter, cut into pieces

1 cup raisins

1/2 cup currants

3/4 cup buttermilk

1 egg

1 Tbsp. milk

Raw sugar for sprinkling

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400° F (200° F). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or grease with butter.

Pour boiling water over the raisins and currants. Allow to sit for 15- 30 minutes to plump.

Stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and sugar in  a large bowl until evenly blended. Cut in the butter using a food processor or by hand until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Stir in the raisins and currants, then make a well in the center of the mixture and pour in the buttermilk. Stir with a wooden spoon until the dry ingredients are moistened.

Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead gently. Divide the dough in two equal halves if you wish to make two smaller loaves, or form one 6 1/2″ diameter loaf. Place onto the prepared baking sheets. Cut a cross 1″ deep into the top of each loaf.

Whisk egg and 1 tablespoon of milk together in small bowl.

Brush top of each loaf with milk/egg wash mixture. Sprinkle with raw sugar.

Bake loaves in preheated oven for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 375° F (190° C) and bake until the top of the bread is golden brown, approximately 15 more minutes.

Remove bread to wire rack to cool. Wrap in damp tea towels while cooling.

Makes one 6 1/2 ” diameter loaf or two smaller loaves.