Keeping the Tradition Alive

Irish Soda Bread

    For as long as I can remember, my family has made Irish Soda Bread for every gathering. I will forever love this traditional food and I will always smother it in butter. My great grandmother passed down a recipe to her sons and daughters, and now my father knows the recipe. I hope to learn the recipe in the near future, but for now my father, his siblings, and my grandmother's cousins are the only ones that know of it.

4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for currants
4 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 3/4 cups cold buttermilk, shaken
1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
1 cup dried currants