My husband’s Irish grandmother introduced this recipe into the family when she got her new gas cooker together with a Radiation Cookery Book (published by Radiation Ltd. in 1936). You can’t go wrong with a name like that….
It’s a very simple recipe and the bread tastes absolutely delicious with butter, olive oil & salt, jam, marmalade or lemon curd.
Irish folklore says that the cross enables the fairies to escape from the bread. This made me fall in love with the recipe – and its taste justifies my love!
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Ingredients
- 1 lb flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 level tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1/2 pt buttermilk
Servings: medium-sized round loaf
Instructions
- Sift together the flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda. Mix with the milk to a soft dough.
- Knead lightly and flatten into a large round cake. Score a deep cross into the top with a wet knife.
- Place on a floured baking tray and bake in the pre-heated oven for 30 minutes at gas mark 7. If you want a slightly softer crust, bake for 40 minutes at gas mark 6 instead.
- If neither buttermilk nor sour milk is obtainable, sift 1 heaped teaspoonful of cream of tartar with the flour, rub in 1 oz. of lard or butter, and use fresh milk for mixing.
Recipe Notes
Variation on the recipe: for a touch of the sea, add 1 oz. of dillisk to the flour mix.
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