Kiss me, I’m Irish!☘️

One of the joys of cooking/baking, especially if you have even a smidgen of curiosity about foods, is jumping into and exploring the nuances of staples as they are prepared by different cultures. And what can be more of a staple than bread?

As we go full into March (still wondering, of course, where January and February went), any and everything Irish comes to the forefront, Instagram feeds included. I got an algorithmic introduction to @irishbakerabroad, and was immediately taken by his recipes. I’m a fan of quick breads (the ones you bake in a loaf pan, without all the kneading and proofing), and he showcases many. Not only are they easy, they usually don’t require specialty ingredients, and almost all contain ingredients reminiscent of simpler, perhaps healthier, times – whole wheat flour, oats, butter, dried fruits, honey, molasses, (as a substitute for treacle) – and what’s not to like about that?

With some whole wheat flour that needed to be used, and having just received a supply of honey from relatives in Mississippi, Irish Wheaten Bread seemed a perfect match. Spread with cream cheese or butter, it’s almost a meal in and of itself. You can drizzle some honey if you want to sweeten it up. And as you’d expect, it’s a great companion to a bowl of Irish stew!

Wnat something only slightly, but not too much, to the sweet side? Irish Porter Cake checks all the boxes. This cake is perhaps an Irish cousin to fruitcake, but without all the perceived negatives to the American Christmas variety. It’s warm with hints of spices, packed with as many dried fruit varieties as you like, and great with breakfast, a mid-morning cuppa, or at tea time. Ths choice is yours!