[1] Bake your own Irish soda bread with this recipe. Photo © The Baker Chick.

[2] Turn a loaf of Irish soda bread into French toast or bread pudding. This recipe from McCormick has both raisins and caraway seeds. (photo © McCormick).

[3] Irish soda French toast, for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dessert. The recipe is at right (photo © The Shannon Rose).

[4] Irish soda bread pudding. The recipe is at right (photo © The Shannon Rose).

[5] Some Irish soda bread recipes have caraway seeds, some have raisins, some have both and some have neither! These caraway beauties are from Silk Road Spices (photo © Silk Road Spices).

EDITOR’S NOTE: Due to health concerns, most of us won’t be running out today to pick up Irish soda bread. We’d planned these two recipes that use Irish soda bread to make dessert.

We’re sending them anyway, with hopes that they’ll be of use—if not now, then next year.
 
 
We love Irish soda bread so much, that we buy extra loaves to slice and freeze, to extend our enjoyment for a month or two longer.

But if you end up with too much soda bread and not enough space in the freezer, here are two ways to use them the next day or the day after (the bread can be stale, but not rock-hard).

These recipes are courtesy of Shannon Rose Irish Pub, with two locations in New Jersey.
 
 
RECIPE #1: IRISH SODA BREAD DESSERT FRENCH TOAST

Do you really need to top French toast with caramel sauce and powdered sugar?

If you’re serving it for dessert, sure.

For breakfast, brunch or lunch, conventional maple syrup is the way to go.

Ingredients Per Serving

 
For The Batter

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 450°F.

2. WHISK all the batter ingredients together. Heat the butter in a pan.

3. DIP each slice of soda bread into the batter and place into the pan. Cook each side for 3 minutes, until the color is golden brown.

4. REMOVE from the pan and place on a sheet into a 450-degree oven for 3 minutes. Remove from oven and slice each piece in half (at an angle like a sandwich, if the slices allow it).

5. PLATE the French toast and top with strawberries, caramel and powdered sugar.
 
 
RECIPE #2: IRISH SODA BREAD PUDDING

This recipe requires preparation a day (or evening) in advance.

Ingredients For 6 Servings

 
Preparation

1. GREASE a 9″ square pan or a large rectangular pan (e.g. 11″ x 7″) and set aside.

2. CUT the soda bread into 1″ cubes.

3. WHISK the other ingredients together in a mixing bowl and pour the mixture over the the soda bread. Toss.

4. POUR the mixture into the greased pan, cover with foil and let sit overnight.

5. BAKE: Preheat the oven to 300°F and bake the covered pan for 40 minutes. Then turn the oven up to 350°F, remove the foil and bake for an additional 20 minutes until the top is golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool.

6. SERVE hot or cold.
 
 
>>> CHECK OUT THE HISTORY OF IRISH SODA BREAD <<<