TWD: Happy St. Paddy's Day - Irish Soda Bread!

 
With a last name like Kelly, you would think I would have had Irish Soda Bread many times in my life. But, you would be wrong.

Being of Scottish descent, we had lots of scones, shortbread, raisin squares, but never soda bread. And, truthfully, if this recipe is any indication, we weren't really missing anything.

With only four ingredients, the recipe was dead easy to put together (which was good, as I was mostly occupied with making sugar flowers this past Sunday). I added chopped dates, which I had originally bought for the rugelach, but it just didn't deliver the flavor for me that I hoped for. Without the chopped dates, the bread itself would not have really tasted like anything.

Though the bread was tender, it was also a bit dry. It was fine with a bit of jam and a cup of tea, but I think in the future, I'll just make my grandmother's scones.

For some different takes on the Irish soda bread, and the recipe, head over to My Culinary Mission (she made hers with gruyere!) or Chocolate Moosey.

Next time on TWD - Pizza Rustica! I'm already thinking of yummy toppings...

TWD: Rugelach

As with any new endeavor, mistakes are a given along the way. There is apparently some weird glitch with word and blogger and internet explorer that, while very long and boring, was why some people were unable to view my blog entry last time. Well, at least, at first. Now you can't view my blog post because I accidentally deleted it trying to figure out the problem and had no back up.

A fitting entry to this week's Baking with Julia post. The recipe was rugelach and, like the blog post before hand - no matter how well prepared you think you are, trying something new always leaves room for a few glitches.

There was a lot that I liked about this recipe. For example, it really appealed to the type A organization freak in me as this was NOT a recipe you can just throw together (like chocolate chip cookies, where my record is under ten minutes). This is a recipe that, while you could take a day and do, lends itself to being set up and prepared over a number of days - making the dough and the fillings one day, filling and chilling the dough on a second day, and finally, on the third day, baking the dough.

That said, even with all the prep time, and the perfect way they looked on the tray, there was still a glitch - instead of staying in the lovely pinwheel shape that they started in, the majority of them exploded, looking more like commas than nice swirly periods.

I can't attest to the taste (they were actually baking as I wrote this post, I wasn't THAT organized), but they smell wonderful. I think with a few parchment paper rolling tricks and a firmer squeeze at the end, the next batch may remain in their traditional shape (and there will be another batch, I only rolled out half the dough). So, as with the mishap with the previous blog post, hopefully I will solve the glitch and come away smarter than I was before.

If you would like to see some very nice rugelach (that don't look like commas), or if you would like the recipe, please head over to My Baking Heart, which is hosting the recipe this week.

I really DO intend to post next week - I recently made a lovely Ginger cake that I would just love to share, so keep your fingers crossed that I get my act together! Otherwise, the next recipe from Baking with Julia is Irish Soda Bread (Happy St. Patty's Day), and you know you can count on me for that one!