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Irish: Spotted Dog

Source of Recipe


From "Forgotten Skills of Cooking" by Darina Allen



List of Ingredients



• 4 cups white flour, preferably unbleached, plus more for the work surface
  
• 1 level teaspoon baking soda
  
• 1 level teaspoon salt
  
• 2 tsp sugar
  
• 3 ounces sultanas or golden raisins (more, if you like)
  
• 1 egg
  
• 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 cups buttermilk
  
• Butter and jam or Cheddar cheese, for serving
  






Instructions



1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
   
   
2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour and baking soda. Add the salt, sugar, and sultanas, and mix the ingredients by lifting the flour and fruit up into your hands and then letting them fall back into the bowl through your fingers. This adds more air, and therefore more lightness, to the finished loaf.
   
   
3. Now make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Break the egg into a measuring cup and gently stir it. Add enough buttermilk to reach the 1-3/4-cup line (the egg should count as part of the liquid measurement) and combine. Pour most of this buttermilk mixture into the flour. Using one hand, with your fingers open and stiff, combine the ingredients, moving your hand in a full circle and drawing in the flour mixture from the sides of the bowl, adding more buttermilk mixture if necessary. Mix it as quickly and gently as possible, thus keeping it light and airy. The dough should be softish, but not too wet and sticky. The trick, as with all soda breads, is not to overmix the dough. When the dough all comes together, turn it out onto a well-floured work surface.
   
   
4. Wash and dry your hands. With floured fingers, roll the dough lightly for a few seconds -- just enough to tidy it up. Then pat the dough into a round about 2-1/2 inches high. Transfer it to a baking sheet dusted lightly with flour. Use a sharp knife to cut a deep cross in the center, letting the cuts go over the sides of the bread.
   
   
5. Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 400 degrees. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes. If you're in doubt about the bread being cooked, tap the bottom. It will sound hollow when it's done. Serve the freshly baked bread warm, cut into thick slices, and smeared with butter and jam. Spotted Dog is also really good eaten with Cheddar cheese. (Soda breads are best eaten on the day they are made, but are still good for a day or so more. They also make great toast.)
   
   Makes 1 loaf.