Eat * Bake

Soda Bread (arán sóide)

St. Patrick's Day is just around the corner (17th of March), and with my Irish roots, I thought why not share some great recipes from the Emerald Isle! Irish soda bread is a yummy and very easy to bake kind of bread. I love it for its simplicity and it tastes real good right out of the oven with butter and cheddar cheese. The method below is not the traditional recipe, but it works just as well. Give it a try!


Ingredients:
225g white flour
225g wholemeal flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
25g butter
2 tsp baking powder
300ml soured milk (buttermilk is best) 



1. Preheat oven to 200C. 
2. Mix white and wholemeal flour in a bowl and then add salt, sugar and baking powder. Rub butter in with fingertips. 
3. Make well in center of ingredients and pour in the milk, mixing quickly to form a soft dough. Depending on the absorbency of the flour, you may need to add a little milk if the dough seems too stiff but it should not be too wet or sticky. 
4. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly. Form into a round and flatten the dough slightly before placing on a lightly floured baking sheet. 
5. Cut across the top of the dough and leave it to set for 2 minutes. Then bake in a very hot oven for the first 10 minutes. Lower the temperature to 180C and bake for another 30 minutes or until loaf sounds hollow when knocked. 
6. Move to a cooking rack and cover the loaf with a tea towel for several minutes. Eat it warm.