If you’ve a beginner at breadmaking, this is the one for you. It is so easy to make and really delicious. This is another recipe given to me by a friend, we had this at a dinner party and it was served with smoked salmon, although it’s equally nice with cheese or jam. It’s a wonderful accompaniment for soup, or just on its own with butter.
Although it’s widely thought that Soda bread is an Irish invention, and I must admit until I did some research I thought this too, it was originally invented by the indigenous Americans. Irish soda bread wasn’t created until the 1830s when baking soda – or bicarbonate of soda – was first introduced to Ireland. The usual recipe for soda bread is simply plain flour, salt, bicarbonate of soda and traditionally soured milk, (although you can also use buttermilk or natural yoghurt).
The reaction between the bicarb and the acid milk is what causes the bubbles of carbon dioxide which in turn causes the bubbles and light texture in the loaf. Because it isn’t a yeasted bread you don’t need to leave it to prove, so it can be prepared and cooked quickly. With this bread, as you can see instead of the traditional 4 ingredients there are nine.
A Note About Ingredients
When I make soda bread I generally use natural yoghurt, this is just plain live yoghurt, most supermarkets sell their own reasonably priced own brands which work really well. I do make my own yoghurt from time to time and use this too, in fact if I have some natural live yoghurt that really needs using up soda bread tends to be my go-to recipe.
This bread does need using fairly promptly because it can become stale, although it’s so delicious that it doesn’t get a chance to go stale and gets eaten quite quickly. It freezes quite well too!
The original recipe was for a loaf double this size, so if you want to you can double up the quantities and make a bigger loaf, but remember to bake it for longer, about 45 minutes.
It’s important to remember that once you add the wet ingredients to the dry the chemical reaction that causes the rise begins to take place, so try to mix this and get it onto the baking sheet fairly quickly.
Traditionally the soda bread also has a cross on the top, this is said to ward off the devil and protect the household, but in fact slashing the top allows the heat to penetrate the thickest part of the bread and allows it to expand and stretch as it rises.
Ingredients
- 250g plain flour
- 120g wholemeal flour
- 80g oats (rolled or porridge)
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 ½ tbsp bicarbonate of soda
- 12g runny honey
- 15g black treacle
- 350-400ml buttermilk or natural yoghurt
Method
- Pre-heat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/gas mark 6
- Sprinkle some flour onto your baking tray, this will help the loaf not to stick.
- Mix the flours, salt, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda in a large bowl.
- Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the honey and black treacle.
- Add 350 ml of the buttermilk/yoghurt, you are looking for a dough which is quite sticky but can hold it’s shape, so you may need to add more buttermilk/yoghurt. If you add too much your bread will still be delicious, only a little flat.
- Knead the dough lightly to bring it together.
- Shape the dough into a round and put it onto the baking tray.
- Scatter some plain flour over the top of the loaf and mark the top with an X. This allows even cooking throughout the loaf.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the loaf sounds hollow when the bottom is tapped.
- Cool on a wire tray.
Soda bread is delicious toasted and served with smoked salmon and scrambled egg!
Cavell Orchards 