Railway Cake (aka Spotted Dog Irish Bread Recipe)

🧂 Ingredients

• 4 cups all-purpose flour

  (sifted)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

  (sifted)
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 ¼ cup buttermilk

  (plus more, as needed)
• 1 large egg

  (at room temperature)
• ¾ cup raisins

  (or golden raisins (sultanas), or dried currants)

Instructions

• 1 Preheat your oven to 400°F (205°C) and generously grease or spray an 8 inch
  round cake pan with non-stick cooking spray. *I prefer to use the 2-inch deep
  cake pans, with a second pan to add as a lid. This simulates the bastibles that
  Irish soda bread and railway cakes were baked in originally.
• 2 Sift your all-purpose flour into a large mixing bowl (or the bowl of your stand
  mixer) then add the baking soda, sugar, and salt. Whisk the dry ingredients
  together then form a well in the center of the bowl.
• 3 Whisk the buttermilk and egg together in your measuring cup. Add the raisins to
  the well in the middle of your dry ingredient, then pour the buttermilk and egg
  combo in as well. Mix until just combined. You do not want to keep working your
  dough!
• 4 Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pull any pieces together,
  shaping it into your 1 ½-2 inch tall round loaf. Transfer the rounded dough to
  your baking pan or baking sheet.
• 5 Use a sharp knife (or a bread makers lame) cut a cross over the top of the loaf
  to make 4 quarters. Use your index finger and poke a hole into each of the
  quarters.
• 6 If you have a second 8-inch cake pan, use it to cover the first pan to replicate
  the bastible style cooking method originally used with this type of soda bread.
• 7 Bake at 400°F (205°C) for 30 minutes then remove the top cake pan, if using.
  Continue baking an additional 15 minutes. The bread is done when the top is
  golden and the loaf sounds hollow when the bottom is tapped.
• 8 Remove the loaf from your baking pan and transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool
  slightly before serving.

Nutrition Info