My grandmother and I just love making this delicious Irish Soda bread recipe during the fall and winter months. It is a great and fulfilling snack that is quick and easy to make.
Maybe you need a quick and easy recipe for your St. Patrick's Day party? Or do you just love eating this crumbly bread with a cup of strong coffee or English tea?
Here is quick and easy authentic recipe for Irish Soda Bread directly from my grandmother's kitchen in County Mayo, Ireland. After a few taste tests, I tweaked the recipe a little bit to make this the best Irish Soda Bread I've ever tasted. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
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Here is what you need:
3 cups of flour
3/4 cup of sugar (plus a tiny bit extra to sprinkle ontop)
3 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. carraway seed
1 cup raisins
1 large egg
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
6 tbs, butter (3/4 the stick)
***PREHEAT OVEN TO 350 DEGREES
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Does not contain egg or fruit etc. This is essentially a cake.
It was developed in the 1800s because The Irish couldn't get hold of yeast so substituted Baking powder. (why they couldn't get yeast but could get Baking powder I don't know).
Butter milk - what is left after skimming off the cream and making the cheese is slightly acidic which activated the baking powder.
Brown flour, Baking powder, Butter milk. (I put cream of tarter in it to make sure the baking powder is activated.) That's all.
Don't over work or it will be too dense.
Real Irish soda bread does not have eggs, butter, raisins or carraway seeds in.
http://www.sodabread.info/index.htm
There is no definitive REAL soda bread. But calling this an American adulteration is inaccurate at best.
Chef Rory O'Connell backs this up on epicurious, as does food anthropologist Deb Duchon...
For the record, our recipe brushes butter on top (no sugar) and makes a looser dough/batter as we use more buttermilk and less butter. I'll have to try yours.
Thanks!
Would you put raisins and eggs in french bread and still call it french bread? This recipe has adulterated an Irish recipie to a point wher the Irish would not accept it as soda bread.
Rory O'Connell is an arse and will peddle any old crap as Irish to any mug willing to pay him, he is just one of the many media whore chefs who clam to have traditional Irish recipes and will happily diddely dee it up for the cameras, yet they all seem to use garlic, chilies, tuna steak and other ever so traditional Irish ingredients. Traditional Irish cuisine is plain and bland with few herbs or spices, fuel rather than food would be a better description of traditional Irish foods, .
Anthropologist's base their knowledge on what they THINK may be the truth (how old do you think the recipe for soda bread is?) people who claim their recipie came down through the family from people fleeing the famine are downright lying as the recipe became a staple food quite a few years after the famine and certainly would not have had the luxury of raisins eggs or sugar.
Come to Ireland and walk into any bakery and ask for soda bread and you will not get this, to get this you would have to ask for a bannock, this kind of makes a point that the recipe is not authentic directly from Ireland.
I live in Ireland and have made soda bread twice a week for nearly 20 years now. Most of the Irish soda bread recipes offered on this site resemble true soda bread about as much as I resemble an oyster. No egg, please. It is worth repeating: no egg. And no sugar and no wheat flour either. And definitely not caraway or any of the other nonesense. Don't even suggest these. Doing so merely demonstrates ignorance.
The Irish are a practical people, and this ancient bread most certainly dates from a time in history when resources were scarce and circumstances tough. I think we should look to the spirit of the food in order to understand it. This food is easily made over a fire in a fireplace. Truth, I remember Auntie Maggie doing so. When cookers were introduced (not all that long ago), the skills were transfered to an easier device and the technique changed ever so slightly. However, basically it is the same.
It should be labeled one of Ireland's Rustic breads because that reminds us as we're making it that simpleness and directness is important. I laugh when I see a recipe telling me that it will take an hour. It takes me about five minutes to work the dough and another 10-12 to griddle them.
In the old days, I would lather the finished sliced farl with butter and cover it with a rasher or a fried egg. These days I use a poached egg and no butter, and try to remember the old days as I eat it.
One variation I have made, and this is only me, I have replace the butter with a very light olive oil, grapeseed oil or rapeseed oil. I don't use measurements, so can't tell you how much. Just work it till it speaks to you.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panettone
I will surely be making this again.
Authenicy verified.
Is a good recipe.
OM NOM NOM.
I only had wholemeal flour so the soda bread was thicker and had much more seeds as my flour was made with 9 cereals. Maybe because of that it was super crumbly, but remained a bit more moist (according to my Irish wife - now specialist in soda bread tasting ;-) )
Nevertheless, I made it yesterday morning and it's nearly already gone ;-)
The carraway seeds really add a nice little taste to it. I wonder if a little bit of cinnamon wouldn't be nice too.
I had a bit too much dough so I made 6 buns with the leftovers.
Also I only put 1/2 cup of sugar iso of 3/4
I might make another one next weekend.
thanks for the recipe, I've printed a copy so i'll always have it handy in the kitchen.
just out of the oven ;-)
i used white wheat flour this time
also for those like me working in Clesius ;-) I perfectly cooked the soda bread for 55 min at 180-200°C. The buns were cooked at 180-200°C in 20 minutes
I'll cook one for my pregnant wife tonight !!
She's Irish but living in Belgium, I hope this will bring back memories ;-)