Learn how to make Irish soda bread

Soda bread is quick and easy way of bringing traditional Irish cooking into your home. As you might be able to guess from the name, it uses baking soda instead of yeast. It became popular in Ireland because the climate there makes it difficult to grow hard wheat, and hard wheat is the source for flour that rises easily with yeast.


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Ingredients

• 7 oz (200 g) flour
  
• 5 1⁄3 oz (150 g) whole wheat flour
  
• 7⁄8 oz (25 g) sugar
  
• ½ tsp (2.5 ml) salt
  
• 1 ½ tsp (7.5 ml) baking powder
  
• 1 tsp (5 ml) baking soda
  
• 1 egg
  
• 8 1⁄8 fl oz (250 ml) buttermilk
  
• 1 oz (30 g) butter
  
• some extra whole wheat flour, for dusting
  

Steps

Cut the bread into 4 equal parts

1. Heat the oven to 190ºC (375ºF/ gas mark 5).
   
2. Pour the following ingredients into the mixer: the flour, whole wheat flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda and the butter. Lower the hook and mix for 1 minute. Whilst still mixing add the egg and the buttermilk. Continue mixing until it blends together. When fully blended, dust your hands and the dough with a little wheat flour and remove.
   
3. Shape the dough into a ball and place it onto the prelined baking tray. Sprinkle the top with a dusting of flour and make an "+" on the top of the dough. Place the tray into the centre of the preheated oven and bake for 40 minutes.
   
4. After 40 minutes, remove the bread from the oven. Let it cool completely by placing it on top of an inverted fork - it will cool quicker this way.
   
5. Cut it in slices or along the plus sign into four equal parts to serve.
   

Tips

• For a fun St. Patrick's Day variation, add green food coloring and serve with green beer. Just assure your guests that it is not mold!
  
• There are many variations of Irish soda bread, and this is just one of them.
  
• Buttermilk is critical because its acidity reacts with the baking soda. If you're really in a pinch, though, you can make a substitute as described in How to Substitute Commonly Used Ingredients. Just add 1 tablespoon of vinegar to make the milk acidic.
  
• Variation: Embellish with 3/4 cup raisins and teaspoon of caraway seeds
  

Things You'll Need

• 1 mixer with hook attachment
  
• 1 knife
  
• 1 baking tray lined with parchment paper
  
• 1 spoon

Sources and Citations

• Soda Bread Recipe by Videojug (Video) - Original source, shared with permission.
  

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