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Spotted dog (Irish soda bread with sultanas)
- Published: 15 Jan 24
- Updated: 25 Mar 24
Spotted dog is an enriched soda bread made with sugar, sultanas and egg. Cherie Denham shares her recipe for this Irish farmhouse classic.
![Spotted dog (Irish soda bread with sultanas)](https://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Spotted-Dog-768x960.jpg)
“It’s best eaten warm with salted butter on the day of baking, but it’s also great the next day, toasted and topped with a slice of extra mature cheddar or a creamy Irish brie,” she says.
Recipe taken from The Irish Bakery (Montgomery Press £27) and tested by delicious.
Keep our easy plain soda bread recipe handy, too.
Ingredients
- 450g plain flour, plus extra to dust
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tbsp caster sugar
- 110g sultanas
- 1 medium free-range egg
- 300ml buttermilk
Method
- Heat the oven to 200°C fan/gas 7. Put a baking sheet on the top shelf of the oven to heat up.
- Sift the flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl. Stir in the sugar and sultanas, then mix well with your hands, lifting up the flour and fruit mixture (this will add more air and make a lighter loaf). Make a well in the centre of the flour.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the egg, buttermilk and 30ml water. Using a wooden spoon or a knife, gradually stir the liquid into the dry ingredients. Use your hands to bring the mixture together to form a soft dough (see Tips).
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven and dust liberally with flour. Form the dough into a round shape, about 15cm wide. Cut a deep cross into the top with a sharp knife, dust with a little flour, then transfer to the hot baking sheet. Bake on the top shelf of the oven for 30 minutes or until risen, lightly browned and hollow-sounding when tapped on the bottom. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
- Recipe from January 2024 Issue
Nutrition
- Calories
- 271kcals
- Fat
- 1.6g (0.4g saturated)
- Protein
- 9.3g
- Carbohydrates
- 54g (13g sugars)
- Fibre
- 2.4g
- Salt
- 0.7g
delicious. tips
Cherie says: “As with any soda bread, you want to mix the dough as quickly and as gently as possible. Overmixing can make the loaf dry and heavy.”
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