Around The World In Eighty Bakes: Ireland: Soda Bread

A Little History:

Soda Bread became popular in Europe around the 19th century after the discovery of Bicarbonate of Soda. Bicarbonate of Soda became a popular alternative to other rising agents such as yeast. In Ireland, the bread is traditionally made using a softer wheat, this means that the bread has lower levels of gluten than normal bread. The bread is usually made using buttermilk, but can be made using live natural yogurt or stout. As there is a no need to knead this bread it is an ideal bread to make for beginners in baking.

Ingredients:

500 grams plain white bread flour, plus some for dusting
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon salt
400 milliliters butter milk (when I baked this I only had 300 milliliters of buttermilk so I made it up with 100 milliliters of milk with a squeeze of lemon, you could 400 milliliters of milk and squeeze of lemon if you can't get a hold of buttermilk)

Method:

1. Heat your oven to 200 degrees centigrade and line a baking tray with baking paper or silicon paper (I suggest baking paper).

2. Put all the dry ingredients into a large bowl and mix well, then add the butter milk and quickly mix with your hands until you have a sticky dough. Tip onto a lightly floured surface and shape it quickly into a balll, then flatten a little with your hand.

3. Put the dough on the baking tray and then, using either a dough scraper or knife, mark the dough into quarters, cutting deeply through the dough but not all the way to the bottom, sprinkle a little flour on the top.

4. Bake the bread for 30 minutes, to check if the bread is cooked- tip the dough and tap the bottom, it should sound hollow on the base, or it should be golden brown. Leave to cool on a wire rack. Soda bread is yummiest when eaten on the day, but you can freeze it if you are busy! It is also delicious toasted!

You can eat the bread with some butter or just on its own, or you could use it make a meal, like I did for my dad. I made him a mini ploughmans lunch with a large piece of the bread and cheese along with his favorite beer! This bread is a delicious alternative to normal white or whole grain bread and is also a great quick bread to make at the weekend or for dinner parties!!!