Whole Wheat Soda Bread With Raisins (Spotted Dog)

Preparation

1. Step 1

   Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment. In a large bowl, mix together flours, soda, salt and brown sugar. Swish mixture around with your hands to distribute salt and soda through the bread. Add raisins and toss mixture together to coat raisins with flour.

2. Step 2

   Beat egg and place in a measuring cup. Add buttermilk; the liquid in the cup should measure about 1¾ cups.

3. Step 3

   Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture. Pour egg/buttermilk mixture into the well. Working from the center of the bowl in concentric clockwise circles, with fingers outstretched, stir buttermilk mixture into flour mixture. (You can use a rubber spatula instead if you don’t like getting dough on your hands.) This should take about a half a minute at most. Dough will be sticky and ragged.

4. Step 4

   Dust your work surface with flour, clean and dry your hands and dust with flour. Scrape out dough and very quickly and gently pat it into a 1½- to 2-inch-high round and tuck the bottom edges under. (Alternatively, place in a lightly buttered 10-inch round cake pan.) Place on parchment-covered baking sheet. Moisten a knife and cut a deep cross across top of bread.

5. Step 5

   Place in oven and immediately turn the heat down to 400 degrees. Bake 40 minutes, until the loaf is dark brown and makes a hollow sound when tapped. Remove from oven, wrap loosely in a kitchen towel (to soften the crust) and place on a rack to cool.