All recipes for traditional soda bread contain flour, baking soda, sour milk (buttermilk) and salt. That's it!!!
This was a daily bread that didn't keep long and had to be baked every few days. It was not a festive "cake" and did not contain whisky, candied fruit, caraway seeds, raisins (add raisins and it becomes "spotted dog" not to be confused with the pudding made with suet of the same name), or any other ingredient.
There are recipes for those types of cakes but they are not the traditional soda bread eaten by the Irish daily since the mid 19th century.
| Irish Soda Bread |
 |
| 4 cups of unbleached all purpose flour (or 1:1 white and wheat) Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Grease a Dutch oven and preheat it in the 425 degree oven for about 15 minutes, while you prepare the dough. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Make a well in the center and slowly pour in the buttermilk, incorporating it into the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon a little at a time. Once you have it all mixed together into sticky dough, turn it out onto a floured cutting board and knead lightly (too much kneading will make the gas escape). Form the dough into a ball and flatten slightly into a disc shape. Dip a sharp knife in flour and cut an X mark across the top of the dough. Place the dough into the preheated Dutch oven, cover with the lid and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake another 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and enjoy. |
No comments:
Post a Comment