irish soda bread

1 hour 20 minutes, including baking time

3 cups all purpose unbleached flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons caraway seeds
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold
2 cups raisins
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 large egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon heavy cream

preheat oven to 350. in a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and caraway seeds until well combined. using two knives, cut in the butter until the mixture feels like coarse meal. stir in raisins until evenly distributed. in a small bowl whisk together buttermilk,egg and baking soda. pour buttermilk mixture in to the flour mixture and stir with a fork until all of the liquid is absorbed. it should look like a rough biscuit dough. Use your hands to press it in to a round, dome shaped loaf about 8 inches in diameter. Transfer the loaf to a baking sheet. in a small bowl, mix the egg yolk and cream together. with a pastry brush, brush the egg wash over the loaf. Use a sharp knife to cut a cross in to the top of the loaf about a 1/2 inch deep. Bake, rotating half way through until deep golden brown and a wooden skewer, inserted, comes out clean, about 70 minutes. remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. store in plastic wrap on the counter, after completely cooled.

i used this recipe last year, after finding it on the martha stewart website. it is really close to the soda bread that my grandma used to make, so very authentic, indeed. perfect with a smear of butter.