Americanized Irish Soda Bread Scones with Kerrygold and Marmalade
English
Chapter 7: The Sweet Tooth (Breads, Baking, and Teatime)
Sunday mornings demand a certain reverence, a quiet moment between the grease of the frying pan and the bitter steep of strong tea. The old-world Irish soda bread was an exercise in survival—four austere ingredients yielding a dense, utilitarian loaf. But on American shores, nostalgia met a new kind of abundance. Cooks enriched the everyday dough with sweet butter, eggs, and handfuls of raisins. These scones capture that same transatlantic memory, demanding little more than a quick, gentle hand. Best eaten hot from the oven, split violently, and slathered with ungodly amounts of Kerrygold and bitter orange marmalade.
Before you start
Freeze the butter.
Place the stick of Kerrygold butter in the freezer well before you begin to ensure the flakiest texture.
Plump the currants.
Soak the dried fruit in warm orange juice or a splash of Irish whiskey for twenty minutes, then drain well.
Preheat the oven and prepare the pan.
Set the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Ingredients
- Unbleached all purpose flour2 1/2 cups
- Granulated sugar1/3 cup
- Baking powder1 tablespoon
- Baking soda1/2 teaspoon
- Kosher salt3/4 teaspoon
- Caraway seeds1 teaspoon
- Orange zestZest of 1 large orange
- Kerrygold butter frozen1/2 cup
- Cold buttermilk3/4 cup
- Large egg cold1
- Dried currants or raisins3/4 cup
- Softened Kerrygold butterFor serving
- High quality orange marmaladeFor serving
Method
- 01
Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, caraway seeds, and orange zest until the zest is evenly dispersed.
- 02
Grate the frozen butter directly into the flour mixture.
Use the large holes of a box grater, tossing the shreds gently with your fingers until the mixture resembles a coarse meal.
- 03
Toss the drained currants into the dry mixture.
Stir them gently to coat the fruit in flour so it does not sink to the bottom of the dough.
- 04
Whisk the cold buttermilk and egg in a small measuring cup.
Beat them vigorously until entirely smooth.
- 05
Combine the wet and dry ingredients with a gentle hand.
Make a well in the flour, pour in the buttermilk mixture, and stir just until a shaggy dough forms, taking care not to overmix.
- 06
Knead the dough briefly on a floured surface.
Turn the dough out and fold it over onto itself three or four times to build flaky layers, then pat it into a circle an inch and a half thick.
- 07
Punch out the scones with a biscuit cutter.
Press straight down with a two-and-a-half-inch cutter without twisting to ensure a proper rise, gathering and gently pressing the scraps to cut the remaining dough.
- 08
Chill the formed scones.
Place them on the prepared baking sheet and freeze for ten minutes to firm up the butter before baking.
- 09
Wash and bake the scones.
Brush the tops with a little buttermilk, sprinkle with sugar, and bake for eighteen to twenty-two minutes until deeply golden brown.
- 10
Serve the scones piping hot.
Break them open by hand and smear them generously with softened Kerrygold butter and bitter orange marmalade.
Notes
Handle the dough as little as humanly possible.
Overworking the dough develops gluten, leaving you with a tough, bread-like puck instead of a tender scone.
These scones can be frozen ahead of time.
Freeze unbaked scones solid on a baking sheet, store in a freezer bag, and bake straight from frozen with a few extra minutes on the clock.
Make it a savory affair.
Omit the sugar, zest, and fruit, and fold in three ounces of aged Kerrygold cheddar and fresh thyme for a savory bite perfectly suited to mop up a fried egg.
From The Irish American Table.