Giles Culey's Irish Soda Muffins
So who says Irish soda bread HAS to be made in a
round or loaf pan? These coffee-break-sized
muffins, bursting with tiny sweet currants and a
hint (or a hit, your choice) of caraway, are the
perfect offering for St. Patrick's Day - particularly
if you're looking to celebrate with Something other
than corned beef and cabbage!
This is not at all a traditional Irish soda bread,
which would be simply made with whole-wheat
flour, baking soda, salt and buttermilk. Thoroughly
Americanized, these muffins have traveled a long,
long way from their Irish origin - as have most of
us Irish-Americans.
INGREDIENTS
2 1/4 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar (1 tablespoon
reserved for sprinkling on top)
3/4 cup currants (first choice) or
raisins
1/2 to 2 teaspoons caraway seeds (the
effect will range from faint to assertive)
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk (or plain yogurt, or
sour cream)
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick, 1/4 cup)
butter or margarine, melted,(OR ¼ cup
vegetable oil)
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the
flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar,
currants or raisins, and caraway seeds. In a
separate bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk
(or equivalent) and melted butter (or equivalent).
Quickly and gently combine the dry and wet
ingredients; honestly, this won't take more than a
few stirs with a bowl scraper or large spoon. As
soon as everything is evenly moistened, quit;
further stirring will cause the muffins to be tough.
Spoon the batter into 12 lightly greased cups in a
standard muffin pan, filling the cups about 2/3
full. Bake the muffins in a preheated 400°F oven
for 15 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the
center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove them
from the oven, wait 5 minutes, then remove the
muffins from the pan and cool them on a wire
rack. Serve them plain, or with butter and/or jam.
Yield: 12 muffins.
-In Memory of Giles I. Culey
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