Irish Soda Bread - Spotted Dog

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, I decided to make some Irish soda bread. I made a loaf last year that was rather unimpressive, and I knew there had to be better ones out there. I chose this one because I happened to have several of the ingredients left over from the recipe for Nick's birthday cake, and also because it had raisins in it. My husband is away right now on an internship (he LOATHES raisins; I really enjoy them) so he doesn't have to be subjected to them!

This bread was so good, I ate about 3 slices as soon as it had cooled enough to eat. The buttermilk adds a delicious light and flaky quality to what can be a very dense bread, and the raisins and caraway seeds round out the flavors with a hint of sweetness and nuttiness.

Irish Soda Bread with Raisins and Caraway (also called Spotted Dog)
Good Things Catered

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
2 c. cake flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cream of tartar
2 tsp caraway seeds
1/2 cup raisins
1 1/2 - 2 c. buttermilk (I used about 1 3/4)
1 Tbsp butter, melted

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a heavy baking sheet with parchment.
-In large bowl combine dry ingredients, caraway and raisins.
-Whisk to combine.
-Add buttermilk and slowly fold in with a spoon until it starts to come together.
-Turn dough out onto floured surface and with floured hands, divide into two and knead one half until just coming together.
-Form dough ball into 6 by 2 inch disk and place on prepared baking sheet.
-Repeat with other half of dough, placing the two disks as far apart as you can on the baking sheet.
-Cut cross in top of dough and place in oven.
-Bake for about 30-40 minutes or until middle of loaf is set and outside has started to brown to a light golden color.
-Remove from oven and brush tops with melted butter.
-Let cool on pan for 10 minutes.
-Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely or let cool for 10 more minutes and serve warm.