Irish Soda Bread Pudding

Before you even attempt to read further – know this, the jury is in; this is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.
My neighborhood “taste testers,” or EATERS, wolfed this down – and commented: 

“Not sure what exactly this is, but it’s awesome! Going, going, GONE! Wolfed it down! YUMMY!”

 

“Bread pudding is a bread-based dessert (OR BREAKFAST/SNACK – in my opinion) popular in many countries’ cuisines. It’s made with stale bread and milk or cream, generally containing eggs, a form of fat such as oil, butter or suet and, depending on whether the pudding is sweet or savory, a variety of other ingredients.”

 

“Soda bread is a variety of quick bread traditionally made in a variety of cuisines in which sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) is used as a leavening agent instead of the traditional yeast. The ingredients of traditional soda bread are flour, baking soda, salt, and buttermilk.”

– So, Christopher, now you KNOW WHAT THIS IS!

 

Thus, rather than an Irish Stout Chocolate Brownie, Irish Cream Brownie, or Green Sunbutter Cookies for a St. Patty’s Day dessert (or breakfast) this year, expand your horizons, go rogue, and whip up a batch of utterly LUCKY and delicious Irish Soda Bread Pudding.

It’ll be gone in a matter of minutes, trust me. 

 

Irish Soda Bread Pudding

 

Traditional Irish bread was historically cooked on a griddle as flatbread because the domestic flour did not have the properties needed to rise effectively when combined with yeast. Baking soda offered an alternative.

Irish Soda Bread Pudding 

1 large loaf Irish Soda Bread,* coarsely chopped
8 Tbs. butter, chopped into 1″ pieces
6 large eggs, whisked
3/4 cup white sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup Irish whisky
1/2 tsp. sea salt

 

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Mix together the butter, eggs, sugar, cream, whisky, and salt in a large bowl.

Stir in the chopped bread pieces.

Allow to soak for several minutes.

 

Transfer to a greased bundt pan.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, until golden brown.

 

Remove from the oven and cool for 45-60 minutes.

 

Invert the loaf of pudding onto a plate and slice to serve with heavenly, sweet stout! YUMMY!

 

Happy St. Patty’s Day! 🍀

 

*Irish Soda Bread – adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction
1 3/4 cups buttermilk
1 large egg
4 1/4 cups + all-purpose flour
3 Tbs. white sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. sea salt
1 Tbs. butter, cold and cubed into 1″ pieces
1 cup raisins

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

 

Grease a 9″ inch cake pan or pie dish or cast-iron skillet (best option). 

 

Whisk the buttermilk and egg together. 

 

Set aside. 

 

Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. 

 

Cut in the butter using a pastry cutter, a fork, or fingers. 

 

The mixture is very heavy on the flour but do your best to cut in the butter until the butter is pea-sized crumbs. 

 

Stir in the raisins.

 

Pour in the buttermilk/egg mixture. 

 

Gently fold the dough together until dough it is too stiff to stir. 

 

Pour crumbly dough onto a lightly floured work surface. 

 

With floured hands, work the dough into a ball as best you can, then knead for about 30 seconds or until all the flour is moistened. 

 

If the dough is too sticky, add a little more flour.

 

Transfer the dough to the oiled cast iron skillet. 

 

Using a very sharp knife, score an X on the top. Bake until the bread is golden brown and the center appears cooked through; about 45 minutes. 

 

Loosely cover the bread with aluminum foil if you notice heavy browning on top.

 

Remove from the oven and allow the bread to cool for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. 

 

Cut off 1-2 THICK slices and slather with butter to ENJOY.

 

Reserve the remaining loaf for the Irish Soda Bread pudding.