The first time I made Irish soda bread I kept thinking, "Why is it called soda bread? - it has more buttermilk than it has baking soda. Why not buttermilk bread?".
One whif of a freshly baked loaf and the answer is clear - the scent of the baking soda is unmistakable nestled in the rich scent of buttermilk. What's really awesome about this bread that a measly 5 ingredients is all that stands between hunger & rich, crusty, mouthwatering loaf of fantastic bread.
Added bonus? Easy to make for even the most green of kitchen novices + dirt cheap ingredients. No wonder it was favored at our dorm!
When I was in Sydney as a student with a passion for cooking (figures why I was always broke feeding other equally hungry students) one of my peers at my housing college, Brian who hailed from Kilkenny county in Leinster province of Ireland insisted that to be properly adopted into the Irish fold, there were a couple of things I must simply learn. Like myself, he and a band of 3 others were also foreign students (them from Ireland) and we spent many a weekend afternoons sharing stories over stout. This is what they taught me -
a) the traditional Gaelic name for Kilkenny is Cill Chainnigh
b) for some traditional Irish grub - bake a traditional soda bread, Irish Bannock, make colcannon, & a darn good Irish stew.
c) develop a palette for the good black stuff a.k.a stout a.k.a Guinness or Murphy's
& last but not the least don't put them to shame during a pub crawl on St Paddy's day by learning the true & tested method for pouring stout. For those of you who haven't read this week's Dear reader, you'll find this very important beer fact here.
And to say Uni doesn't teach us the important facts of life!
Preheat oven to 350 deg F.
The ingredients to make traditional Irish soda bread are 5 - all purpose flour, little butter, baking soda, salt & buttermilk.
In a very large bowl or paraat, measure out the flour, add the salt & baking soda. Stir to blend well.
Add cut up cubes of cold butter. Using clean hands, crumb the butter and flour together as best you can.
Measure out the buttermilk and begin pouring into the flour mixture.
Keep kneading the dough which basically means folding the dough over & over with clean hands until it begins to form a dough ball.
Cook's Note - Keep rubbing your hands together to take off all the excess dough stuck to your hands as you are kneading & continue to incorporate to form a dough ball.
Keep kneading until the dough ball is somewhat smooth, well formed and blended. This should take about 10-15 minutes of kneading time at the most. Do not over work the dough ball and stop as soon as the dough ball is smooth & formed.
Cook's Note - It will not have a perfectly smooth surface as in the case of french breads such as boule or brioche.
Form the dough ball into an 8" round. Place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
Using a knife cut a cross about 1/4" deep (traditionally done in Ireland to ward off the Devil) or a pattern as in my case. Oops, I think I might have cut mine a little deeper than called for - Oh well!
Bake for about 35-40 minutes or until the toothpick or thin skewer comes out clean when inserted in the bread. The top should also be a beautiful golden brown.
Like this -
This is such a wonderful dense bread. Very rustic, very old world and delicious served traditionally with butter & golden syrup. Its equally delicious just with butter & fruit preserves.
One bite into the bread & prepare to be inundated by the rich flavors from the buttermilk & soda. Absolutely delicious when piled with thick layers of butter & preserves. Yum..yum..yum..
Golden syrup by the way is quite popular in England & is a light treacle - a kind of liquid sweetener the consistency of corn syrup with a clear golden color - hence the name. It has a rich toasty color unmatched by any other sweetener. Lyle's brand is quite popular and can sometimes be found in gourmet shops here in the US.
Irish soda bread can also be served with rich & hearty stews as we will be serving thick slices of it with our Irish stew with a modern twist. The recipe of which can be found here.
Recipe for
Irish Soda Bread
Preparation time - 15 minutes
Baking time - 35-40 minutes
Makes 1# 8" round loaf
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2.5 oz unsalted butter
2-1/4 cups buttermilk
Cooking method-
Preheat the oven at 350 deg F
In a very large bowl or paraat, measure out the flour, add the salt & baking soda. Stir to blend well.
Add small cut up cubes of butter. Using clean hands, crumb the butter and flour together as best you can.
Measure out the buttermilk and begin pouring into the flour mixture.
Keep kneading the dough which basically means folding the dough over & over with clean hands until it begins to form a dough ball.
Cook's Note - Keep rubbing your hands together to take off all the excess dough stuck to your hands as you are kneading & continue to incorporate to form a dough ball.
Keep kneading until the dough ball is somewhat smooth, well formed and blended. This should take about 10-15 minutes of kneading time at the most. Do not over work the dough ball and stop as soon as the dough ball is smooth & formed.
Cook's Note - It will not have a perfectly smooth surface as in the case of french breads such as boule or brioche.
Form the dough ball into an 8" round. Place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
Using a knife cut a cross about 1/4" deep (traditionally done in Ireland to ward off the Devil) or a pattern as in my case.
Bake for about 35-40 minutes or until the toothpick or thin skewer comes out clean when inserted in the bread. The top should also be a beautiful golden brown.
This is such a wonderful dense bread. Very rustic, very old world and delicious served traditionally with butter & golden syrup. Its equally delicious just with butter & fruit preserves.
Enjoy!
Recent Comments