This ingredient ratio comes from the Seattle Times. Nearly all of the ingredients are represented, except for the heavy cream for the egg wash. I substituted buttermilk. In retrospect, two cups of raisins is too much for this recipe. There were so many unused raisins, I had to stick the stragglers back into the dough. And, while baking, the dough pushed some of the raisins out to the surface.
Ingredients
4 c. unbleached AP flour, sifted
1/4 c . organic granulated sugar
1/4 c. unsalted butter, cold
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp caraway seeds
2 c. organic seedless raisins
1 1/3 c. buttermilk
1 whole egg
1 tsp baking soda
1 egg yolk + 1 tbsp buttermilk (for egg wash, optional)
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
1. In a food prep: sift together flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Cut in unsalted butter until coarse crumbs form.
2. Empty food prep into a large mixing bowl. Stir in caraway seeds until evenly distributed.
3. In a 2-cup measuring cup, mix together buttermilk, an egg, and baking soda. Pour into flour and stir to combine. Fold in raisins. Dough will be sticky.
4. Turn out dough onto a clean, floured kitchen towel. Knead a few times so that the dough comes together and shape it into a large ball; or divide into four equal portions. With a sharp knife or the edge of a pastry scraper, make a cross 1/4" deep in the center.
5. (optional) Brush bread with beaten egg yolk and buttermilk before baking.
6. If baking one large round, bake in a preheated oven for 1 hour and 10 minutes. If baking smaller rounds, bake for 50 minutes.
