Farmer's Sunday Cake (Irish)

This tea bread, from County Tyrone, is essentially Barm Brack risen with soda instead of yeast. The recipe comes from Florence Irwin's The Cookin' Woman.

6¼ cups all-purpose flour, unbleached (625 g)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cream of tartar
1 cup sugar (200 g)
¾ cup butter, softened (170 g)
1 cup sultanas or golden raisins (150 g)
1 cup dried currants (150 g)
2 Tbsp. candied orange and/or lemon peel, finely chopped
½ lemon zest, freshly grated
2 eggs, beaten
2½-3 cup buttermilk (600-720 mL)

Preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C/210°C fan, Gas Mark 8). Lightly grease 2 loaf pans.

Sift the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and sugar together into a large bowl and mix well.

Rub the butter into the flour mixture with your hands until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add the sultanas, currants, orange or lemon peel, and lemon zest and mix well.

Make a well in center of the flour mixture, and pour in the eggs and 2½ cups (600 mL) of buttermilk. Stir the liquid into the flour mixture, working in a spiral motion from the middle toward the sides of the bowl, and adding a bit more buttermilk if necessary to make a moist but cohesive batter. Do not overmix.

Spoon the batter into the loaf pans and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 400°F/200°C (Gas Mark 6) and bake for 20-30 minutes longer.

Makes 2 loaves.