Grandma wasn't kidding when she said she believed we had a wee bit of Irish in us. Turned out, my DNA evaluation showed proof of the family tale. Gram with her gift of storytelling and cooking drew family members together. Nothing was better than Gram's bread. The smell of warm bread embodies LOVE.
Gram had a sweet tooth and loved breads. She would often toss a few raisins into her Irish Soda Bread, shhhh.... don't tell anyone. We all love Gram's breads and she would serve Irish Soda Bread with "Boiled Dinner". Corned beef (or ham, depending on the guests) with potatoes, carrots, parsnips, onion and cabbage. The bread would be used to sop up the delicious, savory broth. I preferred my slice of warm bread with butter.
Any leftover Irish Soda Bread was turned into French toast the next morning.
TRADITIONAL IRISH SODA BREAD
INGREDIENTS
- 4 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 3/4 cups buttermilk
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Grease and flour a 9-inch round cake pan.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Gradually stir in the buttermilk until the dough comes together in a slightly sticky ball.
- Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead gently a few times. Form the dough into a ball and then press into the prepared pan so that the dough resembles a large disk. The dough should reach the edges of the pan, but may spring back slightly.
- Cut an X into the dough with a sharp knife, about 1/4 of an inch deep. Cover the pan of dough with another round cake pan turned upside down.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, covered, then remove the top pan and bake uncovered for about 10 minutes more or until the crust is dark golden brown.
A little Irish Soda Bread history:
I want to give you just a few interesting facts about Irish Soda Bread. Don’t worry I won’t bore you it’s only a few!
- The cross that is slashed into the dough before baking was made to ward off devils and protect the house. It also helps the center of the bread bake all the way through, so it’s very important not to skip that step!
- During the mid 1800s the Irish were making so much soda bread that baking soda almost doubled in price!
- Soda bread was served as an inexpensive way to put bread on the table.
- Real soda bread should only contain 4 ingredients: flour, buttermilk, salt, and of course baking soda.
