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I just want to preface this week’s attempt by saying, I’m not a baker.  I wanted to make something Irish because it’s St. Patrick’s day tomorrow and fable has it that I’ve got a little Irish in me.  I thought this might help in the baking process, but I was wrong.  I usually opt for the traditional corned beef and cabbage, but this year, I thought that I would mix things up a bit.  I think next year I’ll go back to the beef.  Here’s what happened.

Weekly recipe attempt: Irish Soda Bread

As you’ll see from the picture, this looks like a big lump of dough.  And well, it is a big lump of dough.  It’s supposed to look like a nice, round ball of dough with an X on the top.  My interpretation of, “using a sharp knife cut a 1/4-inch-deep “X” into the top of the dough to let the fairies out,” apparently wasn’t quite what I was supposed to do.  I made the cuts too deep, and ended up with the lump.  By golly, there wasn’t a fairy left in that dough.

It didn’t taste bad, but the recipe yielded a big loaf.  My plan was to give some of it away to friends and family for St. Patrick’s Day, but there’s no way I’m giving out this mutant bread to anyone now.  I’d have to insist that it tastes better than it looks and then watch as they tentativley bite into it.  It would be painful for us both, and I don’t want to put anyone through that. 

I will have to say this.  This recipe led to my first experience with currants, and I loved them.  Good thing, too, because I have a lot leftover from this recipe. 

I’m giving this recipe a 6.  Maybe it would be higher if I made it properly, but I really wasn’t that much of a fan in general.  I gave it an extra half point for the currants.