Cranberry and Orange Soda Bread

It's late but Happy New Year! Wishing you all a great year of good food and happiness with your loved ones!

So, about the bread here ... I was watching Barefoot Contessa on Food Network and Ina was making her Irish Soda Bread. She used traditional black currants and added a teaspoon or so of orange zest, which was her own personal take on it. She said if you were Irish you could omit the orange zest. Well, I didn't have black currants so I used dried cranberries instead, and with the addition of orange zest, I don't think I have the right to call it an Irish Soda Bread at all now. But I do love the flavor combination of cranberries and oranges. It's very festive, no?

It's a piece of cake putting this together ... but the dough was very wet. Ina did warn it'd be quite wet, but I had reason to worry because whenever I scored an X on top of the bread, it just disappeared. So back into the mixing bowl. After a few handfuls of flour kneaded into the dough, I suddenly felt scared it'd be too dry, but it was not. It was very moist and absolutely gorgeous too! And the crust is so crunchy and toasty.

Cranberry and Orange Soda Bread
Adapted from Ina Garten

Ingredients
4 cups all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 3/4 cups cold buttermilk**
1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
1 cup dried cranberries, mixed and coated well with 1 tbsp flour

** = I had no buttermilk on hand, so I substituted it with 1 3/4 cups of milk mixed with 1 1/2 tbsp of freshly squeezed lemon juice and left it to stand for 5 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the butter and mix on low speed until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

In a measuring cup, lightly beat together the buttermilk, egg, and orange zest with a fork. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture. It will be very wet.

Dump the dough onto a well-floured surface and knead it a few times into a round loaf. Add more flour if necessary. Transfer the bread to the prepared baking sheet and lightly score an X on top of the bread with a serrated knife. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until a skewer poked into the center of the bread comes out clean. When you tap the loaf, it should have a hollow sound.

Cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature with butter, jam or by itself.