It almost seems wrong pitting one type of recipe against another, but we realize that individual preferences can be quite strong when it comes to Irish soda bread. Did you grow up on the sweet Irish-American version? Are you a purist who sticks with flour, salt, baking soda and buttermilk? Or do you like to experiment with a few modern twists?
Last year, Susie shared her mother's recipe for a sweet soda bread filled with golden raisins and caraway seeds, dusted with sugar. She compared this family favorite to "a giant scone with a buttery sugar crust." Sounds fantastic!
If you ask for a slice of soda bread in Ireland, however, you probably won't find any of those added ingredients. Also called brown soda bread, the tradition Irish version is a simple combination of flour (often whole wheat), baking soda, salt and buttermilk. Some incorporate a little sugar and butter into the mix.
In the March issue of Bon Appétit, Andrew McCarthy (yes, that Andrew McCarthy) traveled to Ireland to track down what he remembered as the perfect Irish soda bread. He ended up at Ballinalacken Castle Country House & Restaurant and brought home the recipe for Mrs. O'Callaghan's Soda Bread. If you're looking for a more traditional version, that might be a good place to start.
Personally, I find myself in that third category, drawn to some modern twists on the classic bread. My favorite recipe (pictured on the right) also comes from Bon Appétit. It's a savory version that incorporates oats, browned butter, black pepper and rosemary.
So, where do you stand? Do you have a favorite recipe for Irish Soda Bread?
Related: Recipe: My Mother's Irish Soda Bread
- Bon Appétit: A Slice Of Ireland and Mrs. O'Callaghan's Soda Bread
- Epicurious: Brown Butter Soda Bread
(Images: Susie Nadler, Joanna Miller)
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I like John Thorne's really basic recipe - 3c flour, 1tsp soda, 1/2tsp salt, and as much buttermilk as needed (roughly 1.5c).
I do add golden raisins, and bake in a bread pot. in fact I made it this morning. And last week.
Got this recipe from my roommate, I used to make her make one without the currants, but now I just leave them out all-together. Never been a big fan of fruit in my bread. Also I double the caraway.
IRISH SODA BREAD
4 cups unsifted regular all-purpose flour (plus 1 cup extra)
½ teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon soda
¼ cup butter
1 egg
1 ¾ cup buttermilk
2 cups currants (I use ½ box)
1 ¼ teaspoons caraway seed
1. Preheat oven to 3750.
2. Pour boiling water over currants and let sit for 5 minutes. Drain and dry on paper towel.
3. Combine 4 cups flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a large bowl.
4. Add butter and cut in with a pastry blender or two knives until crumbly.
5. Beat egg and buttermilk together, add to dry ingredients and stir until blended.
6. Add currants and caraway seed.
7. Turn out on a floured board and knead until smooth, 2 to 3 minutes, adding flour as necessary.
8. Divide dough in half, and shape into a round loaf: place each loaf in a buttered cake or pie pan. Press down until dough fills pans.
9. With a sharp knife, cut crosses on tops of loaves, about ½ inch deep in the middle.
10. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until lightly browned.
Sorry, wrong link. This is last week's soda bread.
Argh, forget it. Here is the link straight. http://breadbakers.blogspot.com/2010/03/irish-soda-bread.html
I'm a fan of non-sweet Irish Soda Bread , but I make sure it has plenty of raisins!
For those of wondering why if you ask for "soda bread" in ireland, you don't get the sweet version... well, that's because the sweet version has a different name in Ireland. It's called Barm Brack. It's a traditional Halloween food, which you put little fortune telling items like coins in, similar to the way you put a baby in a Mardi gras King Cake.
Barm brack is sometimes made with yeast and sometimes made with baking soda, depending on the baker and the recipe. Soda Bread, however, is the plain version always made with baking soda.
My wife just made soda bread last night! (annoying music alert! http://bit.ly/cdcR0x) She also has the dry ingredients ready to make another loaf tomorrow.
Her recipe is for the traditional loaf which looks more like the one on the right. I love it for it's simplicity and heartiness. That crunchy crust can't be beat!
Soda bread comes in white and brown varieties in Ireland. The white is sweeter, and the brown is usually just called "brown bread" rather than "brown soda bread".
I would have considered barm brack to be more a cake than a bread, but I suppose it's not very sweet for a cake. It is lovely with butter though.
I love love, love soda bread. Everyone in my family dislikes it, so I make it just the way I like it - with LOTS of caraway and a sprinkle of raisins. I made some soda bread muffins to take into work tomorrow hopefully everyone enjoys the caraway as much as I do!
In honor of my Irish husband I make this bread both ways, sweet and savory. He likes both, I prefer the savory!
My (American) family prefers the sweet and cake-like kind that has caraway seeds and raisins. I have already made 20 loaves of Irish Soda Bread for orders for Paddy's Day!
http://mccaffreysbaking.com
For Saint Patrick's Day, I like the Americanized version of soda bread... lots of raisins and with hard white icing on top.
I love toasting thick slices and slathering with butter... LOTS of butter.
I guess I never considered the sweet version a Soda Bread really. I love regular old soda bread and use the recipe from one of the Avoca Cook Books. I also love their recipe for Brack, a favorite at our house. The soda is pretty standard
http://driedfigsandwoodenspools.blogspot.com/2009/01/soda-bread-and-carmelized-onions.html
The Brack is crazy yummy (if you like raisins - which we do!)
http://driedfigsandwoodenspools.blogspot.com/2009/03/slainte.html
*blinky* good god, you people put *what* in soda bread?
...well, I suppose it's not quite as gross as sugar on eggy bread.
As a result of time spent in Ireland when I was young, I grew up loving savoury soda breads...especially brown bread. (As "idontdobeige" mentioned, a light traditional soda bread exists, though it is not cake-like like the American kind - it is often served at breakfast).
If anyone is interested in a gluten-free recipe for brown bread, mine is here:
http://gfboulange.blogspot.com/
It's very similar to what I remember having in Ireland. Oh, and the kind with raisins? The Irish have something similar in the form of "rock buns"; they are mildly sweet, with currants - almost like a scone, but with a stronger baking soda flavour.
This is what I use and it takes almost like the bread I had in Ireland:
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-sized pieces
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon molasses
1/2 cup ground oatmeal (Trader Joe's has a barley and oatmeal mix that I grind in the food processor)
1/4 cup honey wheat germ
2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
1 large egg
1 3/4 cups buttermilk
Heat the oven to 425°F. Coat a heavy baking sheet with vegetable cooking spray or line it with a silicone baking pan liner or aluminum foil (or a loaf pan).
Stir together the flours. Add the butter and work it into the flour with your fingertips until the butter is very fine. Stir in the baking soda, salt, sugar, molasses, oatmeal, wheat germ, and flaxseed.
Add the liquid to the dry ingredients and stir until the dough makes a thick, wet-looking mass.
Place the dough on the cookie sheet in a round shape or in the loaf pan and bake for about 40 minutes, or until it sounds hollow when thumped. Cool on a wire rack.
Sooo good!
I've got some in the oven right now. I went with the basic flour, buttermilk, salt, baking soda and added some onions and cheddar cheese to try and get someone to eat it besides me.
Fib,
Barm Brac, báirín breac or simply "brack" isn't really what any Irish person would call a sweet version of soda bread. It's got a LOT of fruit, closer to a Christmas cake than to soda bread. And 99% of the time it has a yeastier taste than a soda taste. You can throw a handful of fruit into a soda bread and call it a fruit loaf, but it's not a brack!