Gluten-Free Tuesday: Soda Bread

"[Photograph: Elizabeth Barbone] Before we talk about what this recipe is, let's talk about what it's not. It's not a traditional Irish soda bread. Traditional Irish soda bread would be made from flour, baking soda, buttermilk, and salt. That's it. The recipe I'm sharing today is an Americanized version of Irish soda bead: it contains sugar, eggs, caraway seeds, and raisins. Now what if you don't like caraway seeds and raisins? Well, since this isn't a traditional Irish soda bread to begin with, I encourage you to play with it! Use any dried fruit you like, leave out the caraway seeds, add some citrus zest. The sweet, tender bread welcomes flavor modifications. This bread stales pretty quickly, after about two days it turns dry and crumbly. If a nine-inch loaf is too much for you, bake the bread in muffin cups. This way you can eat your fill and freeze the rest! The baking time for muffins is shorter than for the whole loaf. Keep your eye on the first pan (check it after 20 minutes) and adjust your timing from there. No matter how you make this recipe, with caraway seeds or without, in a loaf or in individual muffins, you'll have a great soda bread. Just not a traditional Irish one, of course! About the author: Elizabeth Barbone of GlutenFreeBaking.com joins us every Tuesday with a new gluten-free recipe. Elizabeth is an alumna of the Culinary Institute of America and Mount Mary College. With her solid professional baking background, Elizabeth is known for creating gluten-free recipes that taste just like their wheat counterparts. She is the author of Easy Gluten-Free Baking...."