Soda Bread with Raisins in it is American Soda Bread

I grew up eating a version of soda bread quite different than the bread my great grandmother ate in Ireland. I grew up eating soda bread that had enough butter and sugar packed in to make it qualify as a dessert. I grew up eating soda bread that was bursting with raisins. I grew up calling said soda bread, “Irish Soda Bread.” Now, I call it American Soda Bread.

American Soda Bread is delicious, I won’t deny that. While I’ve never been the biggest fan of the raisins, I have trouble turning down just about anything that’s been heavily infused with butter and sugar. Each bite is sweet and moist on the inside with a crunchy crust on the outside, and a little bit of extra flavor from each raisin. This taste was a staple of my childhood. We ate it on St. Patrick’s Day. We ate in on Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter in roughly the same quantities as St. Patrick’s Day. We ate as an after school snack, straight out of oven. And then we learned how to make it. I took a loaf of soda bread to a “Foods from around the World” feast at my college. I was so excited to have learned the family recipe and to be sharing it with friends. I just didn’t quite realize that at the feast, I was representing…