Fruit Soda Bread – Deliciously golden and crusty on the outside and tender, fruity – almost scone like – in the middle. Serve it warm with a smearing of butter and a cup of tea for a happy breakfast. This Fruit Soda Bread is a no knead, no prove bread – ready in an hour.
Warm fruity bread for breakfast without having to get up at 5am to get it ready for breakfast!
This bread requires no yeast, no kneading and no proving time. You can have it out of the oven and cooling in an hour.
I’ve always loved fruit toast for breakfast, and usually buy it in for weekends if I’m not making pancakes or sweet grilled sandwiches. I’ve discovered recently just how easy it is to make though. A simple case of mixing your dry ingredients, mixing your wet ingredients, combing them together into a rough cob shape and giving it an egg wash before sticking it in the oven.
The result is a rustic looking bread like this:
It’s also great toasted the next day (and will even just about stretch to a third day, toasted).
The kids love it – they call it cake bread, and they love just ramming handfuls of the unbuttered bread in their mouths as a snack, before running back outside to play in the garden.
I’d recommend using the fattest, juiciest raisins you can find to get a nice burst of chewy stickiness with each mouthful. I’m tempted to try soaking some raisins in orange juice first on my next batch of this. I’ll update this post with the results when I do.
Fruit Soda Bread Recipe:
Fruit Soda Bread
Ingredients
- 500 g (4 cups + 2 tbsp) plain (all-purpose) flour plus a little extra for sprinkling the baking sheet
- 100 g (1/2 cup) caster sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 200 g (1 cup) juicy raisins or other dried fruit if you prefer
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 large eggs
- 250 ml (1 cup + 2 tsp) buttermilk
- 50 g (3 tbsp + 1 tsp) melted butter just melted - not boiling hot - as this will scramble the eggs
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 175C/350F (fan). Take a baking sheet and sprinkle with a small handful of flour
- In a large bowl, combing the flour, caster sugar, baking powder, baking soda, raisins, and salt. Give everything a mix. This is your dry mix.500 g (4 cups + 2 tbsp) plain (all-purpose) flour, 100 g (1/2 cup) caster sugar, 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 200 g (1 cup) juicy raisins, 1/4 tsp salt
- Break the eggs into a cup and whisk gently with a fork for a few seconds. Pour all but 1 tbsp. of the egg into a separate bowl. Add in the buttermilk and melted butter and mix. This is your wet mix.2 large eggs, 250 ml (1 cup + 2 tsp) buttermilk, 50 g (3 tbsp + 1 tsp) melted butter
- Pour your wet mix into your dry mix and stir until you get a nice sticky dough. Don't overmix or you'll end up with tough bread. If you don't mind getting a bit sticky, you can do this stage with your hands. Form the dough into a rough cob or ball shape and place on your prepared baking sheet.
- Using a sharp knife, make a large cross in the middle - cutting about 1 inch into the bread. Using a pastry brush, give the whole loaf a egg wash using the reserved egg. Place in the over and cook for 45-50 minutes until the bread looks golden.
- Take out of the oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes before cutting up and serving with butter, or toasting and serving with butter.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Nutritional info obtained from caloriecount.about.com – based on 14 slices
I always add a bit of cinnamon when using just raisins in a recipe. And a little FYI – dried fruits always plump up more, and faster, if the liquid being used to rehydrate them is warm, or even hot, depending on the liquid!
It is really tasty, now a favourite
Lovely fruity bread, although I forgot to put the sugar in, I don’t think anybody would notice.
My husband and I love this recipe and we’ve baked it again and again!!
Made this bread a few times – my daughter in law and granddaughter loved it so much- had to bake a loaf and leave it with them after my visit thanks so much for this recipe ☺️☺️😘
So happy you enjoyed it Sally 🙂
I make this like a traditional Irish sultana soda bread. It tastes absolutely fantastic and don’t forget to put a cross on the top to let the fairies out! The best recipe I’ve tried for this type of bread. 10/10 and the easiest by far to make!
Not sure about the wet to dry ratio. This comes out like cake batter.
Hi Jo, the quantities are correct.
Did you convert to cups maybe? I don’t have cup measurements on this recipe as it’s quite an old one (before I started added volumetric convertions), but 500g is about 4 cups plus 2/5 tbsp of flour.
The nicest fruit soda I have ever, ever tasted. Thank you
So quick and easy to prepare but has come out so crumbly (though tasty). Definitely not the right texture for soda bread.
Fantastic recipe. So easy too. A firm favourite.