Irish Soda Bread 0

This is a CC-SA image from the internet. We started eating before I thought of a picture.

What distinguishes soda bread from other breads is that baking soda, not baking powder or yeast, is the rising agent. No rising time is required before baking.

There are dozens of recipes across the innerwebs, some very simple, some not so much. Here’s the one I made yesterday, adapted and simplified from this one, which has a silly reliance on electrical appliances so as to seem much more complex than it is.

Ingredients:

• 2 cps. white flour
• 2 cps. white whole wheat flour
• 1/8 cp. maple syrup (I’m guessing here. I used my mother’s old measuring standard: “one pour.”)
• 1 tbs. baking soda (Again, I used “one pour.”)
• 1/2 stick butter, softened and cut into pats
• 1 3/4 cps. cultured buttermilk, approx. (read the label, make sure it’s “cultured” and not ersatz)
• 1 egg

Procedure:

1. Combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix.

2. Cut in butter until it is thoroughly mixed in.

3. Add egg to buttermilk and beat slightly with a fork or whisk.

4. Stir buttermilk mixture into dry ingredients a bit at a time. (Note: The dough will not mix up into a nice spongy ball like a yeast dough. Rather, it will be wet and a bit sticky. Coat your hands with flour before handling it. Be ready to add a little more flour or buttermilk if needed to produce the required consistency.)

4, As soon as it sticks together, dump it out on a floured board and knead until it consents to holding itself in shape of a loaf, about four or five times. The loaf will be craggy, not smooth like a yeast bread.

6. Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake in an oven preheated to 375 Fahrenheits for approximately 50 minutes or until a knife inserted in it comes out clean.