After trying several different recipes, this is the best I have ever made or eaten. Kudos to martha!

Sunday Best Irish Soda Bread by Martha Stewart

1 loaf
By adding egg, sugar, caraway seeds, and butter to a traditional Irish soda bread recipe, you create a loaf that is fit for a Sunday breakfast or brunch. Wrapped well with plastic wrap, it can be stored at room temperature until the last crumb is eaten. Like all Irish soda breads, this freezes well.

4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons caraway seeds
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold
2 cups golden or dark raisins
1 1/2 scant cups buttermilk
1 large egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon heavy cream

1. Heat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and caraway seeds until well combined.
   
2. Using a pastry cutter or two knives in scissor fashion, cut in butter until the mixture feels like coarse meal. Stir in raisins until evenly distributed.
   
3. In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk, egg, and baking soda until well combined. Pour buttermilk mixture into the flour-and-butter mixture all at once, and stir with a fork until all the liquid is absorbed and the mixture begins to hold together. It should resemble a rough biscuit dough. Using your hands, press the dough into a round, dome-shaped loaf about 8 inches in diameter. Lift the loaf from the bowl, and transfer it to the prepared baking sheet.
   
4. In a small bowl, mix the egg yolk and cream together. With a pastry brush, brush the egg wash over the loaf. With a sharp knife or razor, incise a cross, about 1/2 inch deep, into the top of the loaf. Transfer to the oven. Bake, rotating halfway through, until it is deep golden brown and a wooden skewer comes out clean when inserted into the center, about 70 minutes. Remove from oven, and transfer bread from the baking sheet to a wire rack to cool.

These two recipes are a bit different than traditional recipes. I made the Irish Soda Bread Muffins a year ago and broadcast them near and far on St. Patrick's Day, and they were a big hit. Someone (and I'm sorry I don't know who to credit the recipe to) posted it last year on the Cooking Forum - but many thanks for a great quick bread recipe. The last recipe I've made for many years and it is always a go-to recipe for our St. Patrick's Day HOOLEY (party). -Grainlady

IRISH SODA BREAD MUFFINS

(source: King Arthur Flour)

1-1/2 c. King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
3/4 c. King Arthur 100% White Whole Wheat Flour
2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/3 c. granulated sugar
1-1/2 c. currants or raisins
1/2 to 2 t. caraway seeds, (to taste, or omit)
1 lg. egg
1-cup buttermilk, yogurt, or sour cream
6 T. butter, melted (or 1/3 c. vegetable oil)
sugar to sprinkle for topping

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly grease a standard muffin pan; or line with papers, and grease the papers.

2. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, currants and caraway seeds.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk (or equivalent) and melted butter.

4. Quickly and gently combine the dry and wet ingredients. As soon as everything is evenly moistened, quit; further stirring will cause the muffins to be tough.

5. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, filling the cups about 3/4 full; the stiff batter will look mounded in the cups. Sprinkle with sugar.

6. Bake the muffins for 20 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Tip the muffins in the pan, so their bottoms don't get soggy. Remove them from the oven, wait 5 minutes, then transfer the muffins to a rack to cool. Serve them plain, or with butter and/or jam.

This is my grandmother's Soda Bread Recipe. Nana was from Wexford Ireland and this s a family favorite:

Nana Murphy's Irish Soda Bread
5 cups flour
1/2 Cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp caraway seeds
1 tbls butter
1/2 box rasins or currants
1 pint sour milk ( to sour the milk use 1 tbls vinegar per pint, let sit for a bit to get curdled) or use 1 pint of buttermilk
Sift first 5 ingredients
blend in butter until mealy looking
add seed and rasins stir to distribute well
add milk and stir well - this will be very sticky and I end up mixing with my hands.
divide dough into 2 buttered and floured loaf pans or one 10" round pan. If using the round pan - cut a cross into the top.
bake 325 for 3/4 hour or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Top may be a bit golden
Brush top with butter and let cool on wire rack.
Freezes well!

Very easy to make and very,very good. Do not use margarine or lowfat milk - there will be a definite difference in quality.

Enjoy!
Pat

Well....I made a composite recipe.
My son had a preconceived notion of the ideal soda bread, so I winged it.
I used 2 1/2 cups of AP flour and 1/2 cup of whole wheat, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 tsps of baking powder and 1 tsp of baking soda.

I mixed the dry ingredients with 1/2 cup of golden raisins....wish I had added more...
And added 1/2 stick of butter melted and about 1 1/2 cups of buttermilk...not sure just how much....since I started with 1 cup and added a little more as needed.
I baked it i9n a 10 round cake pan and baked it at 375 for about 45 minutes....wish I had used a smaller pan, as it didn't jump up like yeast bread does....and it was wonderful!...I can't seem to keep my knife away from the end of that loaf!!
He doesn't like caraway seeds so I left them out....and I am glad I did.
I may have to make another loaf on Wednesday....or perhaps several small loaves and give a couple away!
Linda C

SOmetimes i soak my raisins in warm Jameson Irish whiskey gives a nice flavor for adults!

Good Idea Eileen!! I'll do that!

It sounds like your recipe turned out quite well, and is probably a keeper. I was hanging out in a hotel room and watching Martha Stewart today. She had Bill Herlihy on her show, who shared his mother's recipe for soda bread which sounded like it might be very good. I noticed when they cut the loaf it was quite moist, and Bill said it was even better the longer it lasted (although it didn't last long at his house). What was different about the recipe from others was the addition of an egg, and sour cream with the buttermilk. Since it was a favorite family recipe from a real Irish family, I thought it might be worth a try. I would be happy to make a loaf that didn't turn out like a stone! Here's the recipe just for reference:

Maud Herlihy's Irish Soda Bread

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small cubes and frozen, plus more, softened, for skillet
1 (8-ounce) container sour cream
1 large egg
2 cups raisins
1 cup buttermilk
Caraway seeds (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees with a rack set in lower third of oven. Lightly butter a 10-inch round cast-iron skillet; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add butter, sour cream and egg; mix, using a pastry blender, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in raisins, buttermilk, and caraway seeds, if using, and mix until a sticky dough forms.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Using a floured bench scraper, form into a round loaf; using a sharp knife score a large "X" in the center.

Place in prepared skillet and transfer to oven. Bake until loaf is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour. If top begins to brown too quickly, loosely cover with a piece of parchment paper-lined aluminum foil. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

From The Martha Stewart Show, March 2010

Interesting that all your recipes are sweet. I've never thought if it being anything other than savoury!

I made the recipe that Alexa posted and loved it. First time for me. Some of the office crew had some today too and gave it a thumbs up.

David