Norm's Spotted Dog (Soda Bread)
Today I made Norm's recipe for Irish Soda Bread. Discussion here and elsewhere has me convinced that his Americanized version is more appropriately called Spotted Dog.
Norm's Spotted Dog (Soda Bread)
I made 4 loaves. Two loaves were in 7" cake pans, but I used 1 lb 5 oz of dough instead of Norm's suggested 1 lb and 2 oz. The other two were in square pans a little larger and I guesstimated 1 lb 10 oz each. Otherwise I followed Norm's formula to the letter. Mixing was done by first mixing the shortening with the flour, and then adding the remaining dry ingredients, mixing again, and finally the buttermilk and water. I did this by hand using a dough whisk. Since I had 4 pans in the oven at the same time I baked at 350 convection (my oven's thermostat is on the low side so this is not as bad as it seems). Towards the end I even cranked it up to 375F convection to get some more browning. Start to finish (cooling time not included) a little over 1 hour.
Norm's Spotted Dog (Soda Bread) Crumb
Never made this before, nor tasted it before. The crumb came out really nice and soft, but I think it could have used a little more raisins. Tasted delicious with a little (lot) of butter on top! Thanks Norm.
--dolf
Comments
i never knew it was called that. never to old to learn. the rasin amount is right from the shop where we make many of these i guess we were a little cheap! when ever you see raisins in a recipe the amount is never written in stone. some people like a lot of raisins some dont . in bakerys we would allways try to find a good balancs.
but if you like raisins (like me) put in as much as you want but remember things like raisins and choc chips add weght not volume so if you add to many you will get a heavy dense lofe or whatever it was that you were making.
glad you liked the recipe (formula)
Worthy of a baking book page! This did turn out to be a very yummy bread. I distributed my loaves I made to all my friends at work and they were surprised and appreciative. Also splurged on Kerrey Gold Butter (on sale at Whole Foods) - a great St. Patty's day bread!.
Trish
They're beautiful and look like they would taste delicious. Really nice crust, coloring (with the flour) and scoring. It appears that you used a combination, golden raisins in the interior and dark raisins on top? Very nice.
Howard - St. Augustine, FL
That's all I had on hand. The ones that got to the surface got a little tan from the oven heat :-)
--dolf
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