Recipe: Lemon-Lime Blueberry Soda Bread

Active Work Time: 35 minutes

Total Preparation Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Currants can replace the blueberries.

1/2 cup golden raisins

1/2 cup frozen blueberries

2 tablespoons melted butter

2 tablespoons oil

4 tablespoons honey

1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 egg or 2 egg whites, lightly beaten

2 cups orange juice

1/2 teaspoon orange or lime oil, optional

2 teaspoons grated lime zest

2 teaspoons grated orange zest

3 1/2 cups unbleached flour

1/2 cup whole-wheat flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 to 2 tablespoons caraway seeds

Nonstick cooking spray

1 1/2 tablespoons oatmeal

* Cover raisins with hot water and let stand 5 minutes. Drain, then coarsely chop. Place in bowl with frozen blueberries.

* Whisk together melted butter, oil, honey, brown sugar, egg, orange juice, orange oil, and lime and orange zests in large bowl.

* Combine unbleached flour, whole-wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and caraway seeds in another mixing bowl. Fold flour mixture into egg mixture, stirring well. Gently fold in blueberries and raisins and mix thoroughly.

* Spoon batter into 2 (7x3-inch) loaf pans, 2 (7- or 8-inch) cast-iron skillets or 1 (9-inch) springform pan coated with nonstick cooking spray. Sprinkle with oatmeal. Bake at 375 degrees until toothpick inserted in center of bread comes out clean, 35 to 45 minutes, 50 to 60 minutes if using loaf pans. Cool in pans 15 minutes, then turn onto cake rack to finish cooling.

ASSEMBLY

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons orange juice

1/2 tablespoon grated orange zest, plus strips of zest for garnish

1/2 tablespoon grated lime zest, plus strips of zest for garnish

* Stir together powdered sugar, orange juice and zests to make soft glaze. Drizzle over cooled cakes. Apply decorative shreds of zest. (Can be frozen.)

12 to 16 servings. Each of 16 servings: 220 calories; 275 mg sodium; 17 mg cholesterol; 4 grams fat; 43 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams protein; 0.38 gram fiber.

Soda Elements

FLOUR

Use unbleached all-purpose flour for the white flour and, if you can find it, white whole-wheat flour. Hodgson Mills and King Arthur offer white whole-wheat, a nutty, sweet, nutritious whole-wheat flour with none of the drying qualities or slightly bitter aftertaste of regular whole wheat. It can be ordered on their Web sites (https://www.hodgsonmill.com and https://www.kingarthurflour.com, respectively). King Arthur Flour also sells a specialty flour for making soda bread.

CAST-IRON PANS

These are ideal for soda breads as they conduct heat well and ensure lovely crisp, brown crusts. The handles on the skillets make them easy to maneuver. Unless you have an heirloom pan, yard sales and flea markets are your best shopping bets, or check out the Lodge and Wagnerware, the last two cast-iron cookware foundries left. Serve your soda breads in the cast-iron pan, but use a table trivet to protect your table. (And don’t forget oven mitts.)