Kate D's Irish Soda Bread Al'Orange

You don't have to be Irish to enjoy Soda Bread :D! This is a delicious vegan version of the soda bread that Kate bakes for her family on St. Patrick's day. The original recipe called for eggs and buttermilk. I took the liberty of "vegan"-izing the recipe so even our vegan friends could enjoy it and on a whim added orange juice and zest. It is actually quite good and everyone (including non-vegan friends) loved it :D!

This is no dry, crumbly soda bread; the orange juice, zest, and the cranberries make Soda Bread quite moist and delicious. It may be served warm on its own, with Deepa's Strawberry Jam or other preserves, or as a dinner accompaniment for Irish Stoup (sic) - this is not a typo but a word to denote a combination of stew/soup.

Note: A microplane is a very handy tool for zesting the orange - hold the trough side of the microplane up to process and the zest will collect into the trough without falling everywhere and creating a mess.

Ingredients:

3 cups Unbleached flour
2/3 cup Sugar
1 Tbsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Sea Salt
1 cup dried Cranberries/Raisins/Currants
2 Tbsp Cornstarch
Juice (1/2 cup) and grated zest (only the colored top layer) from 1 Orange
11/2 cups soy milk/rice milk
2 Tbsp Oil

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Oil a 9x13 inch cake-pan or coat it with cooking oil spray.

Combine the dry ingredients together in a large bowl; mix and make a hole in the middle.

Pour all the liquid ingredients into the hole in the flour mixture.

Mix just until combined; do not over mix.

Spoon batter into the prepared pan; do not be concerned if it is not perfectly even - the batter will spread and even out as it bakes.

Bake for 25 - 30 minutes or until golden.

Cool slightly and cut and serve warm.

Store any leftovers in an airtight container; Soda bread is delicious at room temperature also.