Irish White Soda Bread
Four ingredients, buttermilk, thirty minutes. The quickest way to make tasty bread. From Eileen O'Driscoll's Soups, 2002.
Irish children have grown up with this bread. It’s the quickest way to make tasty bread, as Eileen puts it, and she’s right. Four ingredients, buttermilk, thirty minutes in the oven. The cross cut into the top is traditional. Some say it lets the fairies out. Either way, don’t skip it.
Soda bread came with every bowl of soup that trip. Dense enough that halfway through the first slice I understood why we were walking twelve miles a day. My sister, the one who held her ground against the salad bar and got her spinach salad anyway, wasn’t a fan even then. These days it wouldn’t matter. She’s gluten-free now. Some things work themselves out.
I ate the bread. So did the rest of us. These days I wish I had twelve miles to walk it off. I don’t make it as often anymore. When I do, it’s a treat. Nutrient-dense yet soft and crusty, everything Irish soda bread should be. Every visit to Ireland gives you soda bread. This recipe gives you that, and scones too!
Notes
Reserve a little of the buttermilk until you are sure the dough will not be too wet. Add it gradually.
A Swedish or spring dough whisk makes mixing considerably easier. Worth having.
Don’t worry if the dough looks rustic or shaggy. The goal is to handle it as little as possible to keep the inside light and tender.
I use a stainless steel ruler to check depth when shaping. A trick from the pros.
Check the bread at 30 minutes. Your oven may have it ready by then. Mine did.
Sláinte
While You’re Here…
Jennifer Ann Blair writes. Food and wine are the way in. A recipe box almost thrown away, a name half-remembered, a dish reconstructed from someone else’s handwriting. All free. Pull up a chair.
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