My mind was set on baking an Irish bread for the alphabet I. When I started researching for breads that start with the alphabet I, lot of Irish soda bread came up. That was the first bread of choice for me to bake . When I was researching more on the bread, I realized that the Irish soda bread was very plain and did not have much of a flavor. My family is not a big fan of such breads and hence I was putting off baking it for a long time. That is when, I came across Irish freckle bread on Mayuri’s space.
This is a beautiful loaf of bread which appears ‘freckled’ due to the addition of currants or raisins. The bread has potatoes which is sort of a staple in Irish diet. I saw many version of Irish soda bread, which had raisins in them. I read that it was not traditional to add the raisins in them and hence wanted to skip it. Finally when I found this bread with the freckles of raisin, I fell in love with it.
The bread dough is enriched with egg and potatoes. Also the shape of the loaf is pretty different. The Irish freckle bread has a very beautiful texture and holds very well to toasting. All it needed was a big chink of butter to finish it all up.
My bake for the alphabet I is the Irish freckle bread from Ireland. I will be baking this bread routinely at my house as we all loved it and my boys especially fell in love with the raisins in the bread. I will also be adding a little bit of nuts in the bread next time when I bake it to give a different flavor.
My other bakes in the A – Z Baking around the World Marathon –
A for Almond cookies from China
B for Bretzel Rolls from Germany
C for Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting from USA
D for Danish Cookies from Denmark
E for Empanada from Argentina
F for Franzbrötchen from Germany
G for Grissini from Italy
H for Hot Cross Buns from England
Preparation time – 20 minutes plus about 2 hours of inactive time
Baking time – 30 to 35 minutes
Difficulty level – easy
Recipe adapted from – Mayuri’s Jikoni
Ingredients to make Irish Freckle Bread – Makes 1 standard size loaf
- Instant yeast – 2 tsp
- Potato – 1 small (peeled and cubed)
- Water – 1/2 cup – 3/4 cup
- All purpose flour – 2 1/2 cups to 3 cups
- Sugar – 5 tbsp
- Butter – 4 tbsp (melted and cooled)
- Salt – 3/4 tsp
- Egg – 1
- Raisin – 1/2 cup
Procedure to make Irish Freckle Bread –
Making the dough –
- In a small sauce pan, add the cubed potato and water and bring it to a boil. SImmer until the potatoes are fork tender. Remove the potatoes and mash it up well. Also keep the potato water aside and let it cool down until it is lukewarm.
- I made the dough in my stand mixer. In the bowl of the mixer or in a large bowl, add 1 1/2 cups of flour, yeast, sugar, salt, mashed potato and 1/2 cup of the potato water. Mix it up well using the beater attachment.
- Cover the mixture with a damp towel and let it rise until it is bubbly and foamy (about 1 to 1 1/2 hours).
- Once the mixture has risen, add the melted and cooled butter, egg and the raisin. Mix it well and add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time. Knead until a soft dough forms (about 10 minutes).
Shaping and baking the bread –
- Grease a standard 8 x 4 loaf pan with butter.
- Divide the kneaded dough into 2 equal parts.
- Roll it into a 10 x 6 rectangle. and then roll it into a cylinder. Repeat the same with the half as well.
- Place the cylinders next to each other in the greased pan.
- Let the dough rise until it reaches the top of the pan (about 1 hour).
- In the meantime, preheat the oven to 350 F. Place the pan in the oven and bake for about 30 to 35 minutes or until the bread is golden brown and sound hollow when tapped.
- Let the bread cool in the pan for few minutes and then carefully remove it on a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Once the bread has cooled down completely, slice it into thin slices and serve.
If you like the bread recipe, pin it here –
Srivalli Jetti says
Fantastic find Sandhya, the bread looks amazing!..will surely want to bake it myself soon! Do you think I can replace the egg with something else?..commercial egg replacer or flax seed meal?
Sowmya says
This looks amazing Sandhya! Lovely find for I….my daughter will love this with all the raisins. Must bake soon
traditionallymodernfood says
never prepared bread with potatoes this one looks super soft. two logs makes a beautiful bread .i m looking forward for your around the world post
harini says
Fantastic bread Sandhya. I am sure we can use flaxmeal instead of the egg, right, Sandhya?
Vaishali Sabnani says
Sandhya the texture of the bread is absolutely fantastic . I love the double loaf look which on cutting looks awesome . Very interesting find for the alphabet .
Sharmila - THe Happie Friends Potpourri Corner says
Love this .. i am bookmarking this.. Loved this awesome bake!!
Priya Suresh says
Awesome bread Sandhya, those slices looks just prefect to toast and enjpy with some butter and jam.
Srividhya Gopalakrishnan says
Love that perfect shape that you got there. Awesome bake.
peter @Feed Your Soul Too says
I love your approach to going through the alphabet to make bread. that is so much and gives you the chance to be so creative. The bread looks really good too.
Veena Azmanov says
I like adding potato in bread dough – I find that it makes the bread softer. This looks like such an awesome loft. So light in texture. Love it Sandhya so perfect.
[email protected] says
I’ve never actually made bread but my Mom used to bake it growing up. I never heard of using potato though. Sounds like a good idea. Looks like the perfect texture and I’m sure is so Yummy!
Marlynn | UrbanBlissLife says
I just love the name Irish Freckle Bread. So fun! Looks like a great recipe. Not much of a raisin fan, but this would make a great housewarming gift for a friend of mine.
Adriana Lopez Martn says
I wish I had the talent to bake this bread looks amazing great to be eaten in so many ways =)
Eileen says
I love potato breads and I really love golden raisins. Your bread look so soft and tasty. Nice recipe!
Sarah says
I have never heard of Irish Freckle bread before, and it looks tasty! The dough is so interesting with the potatoes, too.
Erin @ The Spiffy Cookie says
Love that you branched out and made something different and it came out beautifully. And I love the name freckle bread!
Gloria @ Homemade & Yummy says
Ok…where do I start here. I LOVE bread and potatoes. I find making homemade bread is so rewarding. Nothing beats the aroma of fresh baked bread. I would sub cranberries….and this would be the perfect bread for breakfast.
Molly Kumar says
Oh the Irish Freckle Bread looks so fluffy and well baked. I’d definitely try the recipe for a teatime or breakfast recipe. Love the addition of raisins here.
Donna says
How fun! I grew up in Ireland, but I haven’t heard of freckle bread before – I will have to try it out, it looks soft and delicious, and I just love the addition of the raisins!
ManilaSpoon says
That is such a delicious looking bread! I haven’t had my breakfast as of this writing so I am imagining a slice or two of that bread smothered in butter and jam! YUM!
Amy says
This looks like wonderful bread with such great texture and flavor! I want a toasted piece right now!
Natalie says
What an interesting bread recipe Sandhya. I love the addition of raisins. Texture is very lovely. Just delicious!
Marisa Franca @ All Our Way says
The bread looks delicious. To me, bread is comfort food. I love the aroma and the texture. I don’t even need anything with it. I think the freckles look so cute throughout the bread. I bet it would be delicious for breakfast. I’m saving this recipe.
swathi says
This Irish Feckle bread looks delicious. with raisins bread never goes wrong. you are doing wonderful job with blogging marathon.
Kylee from Kylee Cooks says
Wow, I’m a huge fan of bread at any time – but this, this is GORGEOUS. Super tall, with a beautiful crumb, and the addition of fruit – zomg, yum!!
Sapna says
I have always bought it here from stores. Never knew it would be easy to bake at home. Going to bake it next week.
Pavani says
That is a gorgeous loaf of bread. Love those dry fruit peeking through.