a currant affair

I am of the belief that one shouldn't save certain recipes for certain times of the year. Apple pie? Good anytime. Cranberries? Not just for Thanksgiving. So last weekend I made this Currant-Orange Irish Soda Bread. I wasn't about to wait another year for St. Patrick's Day to come around to try this. You may recall that I made my first Irish soda bread last year, but this was the first time I tried currants.

I mean that literally. I'd never had currants before; I didn't even know what they were. According to Google, Zante currants--the kind I used; look for them next to the golden raisins--are a dried fruit made from "Black Corinth" grapes. So if you were thinking, hey, these look like tiny raisins, you're basically right. And now that I know, I need more currant recipes.

As for this soda bread, I was surprised by the texture. I could've sworn my previous soda bread was drier and more crumbly but this one was somehow fluffy and crumbly. It also had a nice chew--as opposed to a gummy, underbaked chew. The orange zest was subtle but still came through even with the addition of strawberry-red currant fruit spread to my slice. Yeah, when I try currants, I currant all the way. And obviously, I didn't get a picture of this one. Sometimes we're just all standing around, waiting to eat.