{things i made} irish soda bread
I am so used to baking breads with yeast –and having to wait impatiently for them to rise– that I seriously doubted this recipe for Irish soda bread would amount to anything after its time in the oven. But like magic this turned out to be the most perfect and tasty baked good I've made recently (okay, really the baking soda just reacted with the acidic buttermilk). The cross on the top is much more than decorative: it helps the dough expand as heat penetrates evenly and wards off evil spirits according to an Irish tradition. I of course made the bread in honor of Saint Patrick's Day but the loaf barely lasted a day–it was that yummy.
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Ingredients:
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk (or milk of any fat content mixed with 1 tablespoon of white vinegar)
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon of caraway seeds
1/2 cup of raisins
Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, mix buttermilk, egg, and oil.
3, Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
4. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, then pour in wet ingredients. Add raisins and caraway seeds.
5. Blend together with spoon until dough is soft and moist (do not over mix).
6, With liberally floured hands, knead dough into a round shape. Cut two deep crossing slices across top
7. Bake for about 30 minutes, until golden brown.
8 Responses to {things i made} irish soda bread
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Oh my that looks delicious!!
thank you! x
1lb of flour sieved
1 teaspoon of baking soda
pinch of salt,
mix all together, pour in enough buttermilk to bring it all together, empty into a buttered loaf tin, and bake at about 180 for about an hour (turn upside down and knock on the base to check if it's hollow). Wrap in a clean teatowel and leave to cool on a wire rack.
really yummy with eggs and bacon, or some lovely homemade jam and a cup of tea
i will try this out! thank you so much! x
Looks delicious!
This one looks excellent and not too difficult to make. Hope I'm not too optimistic
it's super easy! baking is about having fun anyway…eventually it works out x
Wonderful recipe, strangely you are the only other person I know bar my family that use caraway seed in Irish cooking. We used Caraway in Potatoes Cake, Apple tarts/Pies and Breac.
As it coming close to the Irish festival of Samhain or Halloween to other, this is a great recipe for Halloween night…
báirín breac
In the old days all sorts of stuff were baked into the bairin breac, besides the ring a penny, a button, a thimble, a piece of wood and a piece of cloth. Not all were positive signs. The ring denoted an upcoming marriage, the penny monetary gain, the button the continuation of a bachelor's carefree life, the thimble a destiny as an old spinster, the piece of wood spousal abuse and the cloth destitution.
This is a very traditional Irish recipe for a Barm Brack, (Báirín Breac) a delicious fruit bread, where the name Barm is the old word for yeast. A barmbrak is eaten all year round, but particularly at Hallowe’en when it has a little gold-ring and a small silver-coin baked into it. It was thought that whosoever gets the gold ring, would be married within the year, and the person who found the coin would become rich. For children growing up in Ireland, a slice of this traditional fruit loaf (hiding lucky charms) was a very common thing to receive when out trick or treating at Halloween.
Barm Brack Recipe
Recipe Ingredients:
500g bread flour
60g butter (softened)
85g sugar
300ml warm milk
25g yeast
250g sultanas
115g currants
60g mixed chopped candied peel
1/2 level teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 level teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 level teaspoon salt
½ level teaspoon caraway seeds
1 egg
optional a gold ring and a silver coin
for the glaze: 1 tablespoon of sugar dissolved in 1 tablespoon of hot water
Recipe Method:
Sift the flour, spices and salt together into a large mixing bowl, then rub in the butter until it forms a breadcrumb mixture. Add the sugar (baring a teaspoon) to the flour mixture and blend it in well.
Cream the yeast with 1 teaspoon of sugar and the warm milk. This should, over a few minutes, froth up as the yeast starts to multiply. If the yeast is old and stale it is no longer active and will not froth. Once it froths up beat the egg into the yeast and milk mixture.
Making The Barmbrack Dough
When ready pour the warm milk, yeast and the beaten egg into the flour mix. Beat well with a wooden spoon until a dough is made. The batter should become stiff but still elastic – add in a little extra flour if it needs it. Fold in the dried fruit, caraway seeds and chopped peel so that the dried fruit becomes thoroughly mixed throughout. Knead a little with floured hands on a floured work-surface.
Place the worked dough in a clean bowl and cover with a cloth. Leave in a warm place until the dough has risen to twice the size – depending on the warmth of the room it can take from one to three hours.
The Finished Barmbrack Dough Ready To Be Left For It's First Rise
After it has risen turn out the dough give it a little knead to knock it back and then either place it shaped into a large greased bread tin, or shaped onto a greased baking sheet, or divide the dough into two portions and place into two greased 18cm cake tins or two 1lb loaf tins. If making at Halloween add in a little gold ring and a silver coin (cleaned!) – they should be placed in the dough at this stage. Cover the dough over again and leave to have its second rise for about 30 minutes.
The Barmbrack Dough In A Greased Round Bread Tin Ready To Bake
Bake in a moderate to hot oven (200C) for about fifty minutes to an hour (50 to 60 minutes). Test with a skewer before taking out of the oven. When baked glaze the top of the barmbrack with 1 tablespoon sugar, dissolved in 1 tablespoon of boiling water from the kettle (brush it over) and put it back in the hot oven for about 3 minutes to harden the glaze. Turn it out to cool on a wire tray, and when cool serve in slices with butter