Irish Soda Bread Or Searching for a Better Recipe

The short story is I'm trying out recipes because we all have the time.

The long story is I haven't found a recipe that passes for my daily bread and just may end up going on a different tangent.  I will keep trying.

I remember the Irish Soda Bread my sister made when I was a kid.

She made a batter, flattened it in a skillet that somehow I have managed to keep to this day.

Then warmed up the oven and before tossing it in the oven, skillet and all, she poked a hole in the middle with her finger.

The bread was salty, warm, and very tasty.

I have been trying to find that recipe ever since.

This one I have here is an amalgamation of a couple recipes, none of which ended up as good as that recipe of my sister's.

This is a pretty good recipe, and has a good flavor to it, so if you want to experiment go for it.

Irish Soda Bread goes from ingredients to oven quickly because there is no rising.

The thing about Irish Soda Bread is that the crumb is usually quite dense, and salty.  If that isn't your thing then you might not care for what I have here today.

Even if it was tasty!


Ingredients:

For Buttermilk:

• 285mL/10 ounces Milk.
• 30mL/2 Tablespoons/1 Ounce Vinegar or Lemon Juice.  I used Wine Vinegar because I spotted it at random, and I have used other kinds of Vinegar.

For the Dough:

• 500g/17.5 ounces Bread Flour
• 30g/1 ounce/2 Tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted or softened.
• 10g/1 Teaspoon Salt.
• 10g/1 Teaspoon Baking Soda. For extra rise, use a little more.
• 1 Egg.

Process:

Buttermilk:

• Pour out 10 ounces of Milk to a measuring cup.
• Add 2 Tablespoons of Vinegar/Lemon Juice to the Milk.
• Stir that a few times and allow 10 minutes for the Buttermilk to "brew".

Dough (It's Easier than it looks):

• Preheat oven to 220C/425F.
• Lay out cookie sheet and place Aluminum Foil or Baking Parchment on top.
• Add your Flours to the mixing bowl.
• Add Butter, Salt, and Baking Soda to the bowl and mix the dry ingredients together.
• Whisk the Egg and Buttermilk together.
• Add the Buttermilk and Egg mixture to the dry ingredients.
• Knead the dough until it becomes an even mixture.
• Make a well in the middle of the flour to accept the other ingredients.
• The dough should form a soft, wet "Play Doh" Modeling Compound consistency.
• Shape your dough into one loaf.
• Score the top of your dough with a knife or fork to allow the center to cook fully.
• Bread is done when tested to at least 165F in the thickest part of the Bread Loaf.
• (Or by eye, these loaves were cooked to 180F)

Baking:

For one loaf, baked at 425F for 35 minutes.