Irish Soda Bread is an easy bread to make. This means you don’t need yeast or kneading to ferment. Instead, it relies on baking soda and buttermilk interacting for fermentation.
Linda Barsleff | Taste Food
Irish Soda Bread is an easy bread to make. This means you don’t need yeast or kneading to ferment. Instead, it relies on baking soda and buttermilk interacting for fermentation. The dough must be mixed quickly, hence the name “quickbread”, as the fermentation process begins as soon as the ingredients are mixed. If you try too hard, the bread will become hard, so be careful.
Given that attribution, Irish soda bread seems like a fitting recipe for St. Patrick’s Day. However, upon inspection, it appears that what is known in the United States as Irish soda bread is not truly Irish. In Ireland, soda bread is bread leavened with baking soda (called bread soda in Ireland). This method originated in his 19th century, before baking soda was introduced and ovens were widely used. Back then, soda bread could be cooked over a fire in a cast iron pan with a lid.
Soda bread was and still is an efficient and simple four-ingredient brown or white bread, or flat griddle pan. The now familiar butter, raisin and currant additives would have been considered luxuries for special occasions.
That being said, you can call this a non-traditional or Americanized version, depending on your preference. Regardless of the name, it is very delicious to eat. It’s best eaten warmed from the oven, especially with (more) butter.
Irish soda bread
active time: 15 minutes
total time: 1 hour
yield: Makes 1 loaf
• 4-4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, diced
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 teaspoon caraway seeds (optional)
• 1 3/4 cups cold buttermilk
• 1 large egg (lightly beaten)
1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Place a parchment paper on the baking sheet.
2. Mix flour, sugar, salt and baking soda in a large bowl. Add the butter and use your fingers to mix it into the flour to form coarse crumbs. If using raisins and caraway seeds, mix them.
3. Put buttermilk and egg in a bowl and mix. Make a well in the center of the flour and pour in the buttermilk. Using a wooden spoon, mix the dough until it comes together. If the dough is too wet, add a little more flour. The dough should be slightly sticky.
4. Dust your hands with flour and lightly knead the dough on a lightly floured work surface to form a fluffy ball 8 to 9 inches wide. Transfer the dough to a baking sheet. Make an X notch in the top with a sharp knife.
5. Bake in the oven for about 45 minutes until the bread is golden brown and clean with a bamboo skewer in the center. (If the bread gets too brown before baking, lightly cover with foil.)
6. Remove pan from oven and let cool on rack for 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Lynda Balslev is an award-winning author, cookbook author, and recipe developer based in Northern California. Visit her TasteFood at TasteFoodblog.com.