In the midst of famine, soda bread stretched something expensive white flour with something cheap local buttermilk , and replaced something slow yeast with something wonderfully fast soda. So why would anyone waste time and flour kneading a dough when they could just scrape it into a skillet and be done? Especially considering that baking soda, unlike yeast, won't continue to produce carbon dioxide over time.
The clock starts ticking as soon as the buttermilk is added, which brings us to another curious point of fact: Modern soda bread is generally a little sour. Okay, sure, that seems perfectly natural considering all the tangy buttermilk, but 19th-century soda bread was widely praised for its sweetness.
You and I hear that term and think sugar , but in those days, it simply distinguished soda bread from the funky flavor of traditional sourdoughs a. For buttermilk to taste sweet, i. That tells us that its primary purpose was to leaven the dough, making soda bread particularly light, fluffy, and oh-so-slightly alkaline.
As I learned while perfecting my gingersnaps , a little alkalinity can taste truly magical. Think Dutch cocoa, corn tortillas, and ramen noodles—remember that baking soda hack to turn dry spaghetti into ramen noodles? A slightly elevated pH can enhance texture, moisture retention, and flavor. I believe that such a Triforce of power chewiness, moisture, and flavor would have freed soda bread from the trials and tribulations that plague it today, namely, all things crumbly, dry, and bland.
Putting my theory to the test, I abandoned modern expectations of how soda bread should be made and followed a set of 19th-century instructions to the T, or, at least, as close to that T as baker's intuition could allow given the subjective directions.
Instead of measuring a level teaspoon of soda, I scooped it with the casual disregard of a 19th-century baker who knew exactly what she was doing. I also kept the buttermilk flowin', bypassing the texture of pie or biscuit dough , until I had something too soft to handle , too stiff to pour. I scraped the whole thing into a cast iron Dutch oven lined with parchment to prevent the lean and sticky dough from, well, sticking a far less likely problem when cooking over an open flame.
After an hour, I pulled out an absolutely gorgeous boule, golden brown, with an audibly crackling crust. From that moment on, I was helplessly in love. This was the sort of bread that could save a nation, providing not just a mass of calories but morale. Before digging in, I let the soda bread cool on a wire rack for about 15 minutes, a completely arbitrary time determined strictly by my own impatience. Prep Time 10 minutes.
Cook Time 45 minutes. Servings Calories Instructions Preheat oven to F C. In a large bowl or on a clean work surface, mix flours, soda and salt together.
Cube butter. With your fingers or hands, rub the butter into the flour until it resembles fine bread crumbs. An easy way to do this is to pick up a cube of butter and scoop up some flour. Close your hands around it and rub your hands together quickly as if you are washing them. Whisk the buttermilk and egg together. Mix dough with wet ingredients until just formed.
Pat out into a circle about 8" inches 20cm in diameter. Brush top with buttermilk, melted butter or an egg wash. If desired, sprinkle with caraway seeds, oats or nuts. Calories: kcal. Author: Elizabeth Marek. Sift together your flour, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and then add in half your buttermilk, stir gently to combine. Add in the rest of your buttermilk and continue to gently stir until a sticky dough forms.
Place the sticky dough onto a flour-dusted work bench. Fold the dough a few times to form a ball but do not over-work it or the bread will be tough. Use a sharp knife to cut a "cross" in the top of the dough to allow for expanding during baking. Place the dough into your dutch oven and cover. Serve your Irish soda bread warm with some butter and jam or along side a hearty stew.
This bread will keep for up to two days but is really meant to be eaten on the day it's made. Notes Cake or pastry flour is very important in this recipe for a nice tender bread.
Tried this Recipe? Tag me Today! Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Home Decor. Holiday Decor. Christmas Trees. Holiday Lighting. Gift Cards. Explore Discussions. Thank you! Email Save Comment Sort by: Oldest. Newest Oldest. Like Save. It kind of reminds me of biscuits, a little. I'm not wild about it. Related Discussions The dog ate my soda bread Q.
Kframe: Was your dog a Polish Lowland Sheepdog? Sometimes I wonder how my pup, well. I think all these dogs have a thing for whatever is denied them on the counter, whether it's in the kitchen or in the bathroom. How could a hair brush with synthetical bristles possibly taste good? BUT; here's one that will really make you cry. I had baked two of Ann T's cream cheese danishes, one was consumed by humans who then left the house.
On return the other had been completely consumed by my four-legged friend. How he managed to pull that pan off the counter is beyond me. Irish Soda Bread recipe and dessert Q.
Reporting back VERY late here. Life in general and business challenges have taken up much of my free time over the last week. Thanks for all the recipes for both the bread and desserts. I did send out a few emails too. Alexa had the recipe that I made last year so I went with that one again. I'll be trying some of the others too. I forgot how good this simple bread is.
I love the idea of cupcakes Katie. Here is my results and the recipe. I might have cut that cross pattern a little deep.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and caraway seeds until well combined. Using a pastry cutter or two knives in scissor fashion, cut in butter until the mixture feels like coarse meal. Stir in raisins until evenly distributed.
In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk, egg, and baking soda until well combined. Pour buttermilk mixture into the flour-and-butter mixture all at once, and stir with a fork until all the liquid is absorbed and the mixture begins to hold together. It should resemble a rough biscuit dough. Using your hands, press the dough into a round, dome-shaped loaf about 8 inches in diameter.
Lift the loaf from the bowl, and transfer it to the prepared baking sheet. In a small bowl, mix the egg yolk and cream together. With a pastry brush, brush the egg wash over the loaf. Transfer to the oven. Bake, rotating halfway through, until it is deep golden brown and a wooden skewer comes out clean when inserted into the center, about 70 minutes.
Remove from oven, and transfer bread from the baking sheet to a wire rack to cool. THanks for the dessert recipes too. Ann, I love your caramel sauce! Didn't we call that cake gravy a few years back? You know I love anything chocolate. Sharon thanks for the apple dessert recipe too. I have a few that need to be used up so I just might take that on this weekend. I ended up make six dozen sugar cookies for the office crew and the insurance company that leases space from us in our building.
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