irish soda bread

If there is a bread that is easy to prepare, it is, without a doubt, Irish soda bread. Few ingredients, easy to find, that only need to be mixed, lightly kneaded, and into the oven. In half an hour of cooking we have a delicious bread ready to eat. No waiting, rising, complicated kneading techniques or anything like that.

Irish soda bread is quick and easy to make . The miracle of turning this basic dough into bread is done by the chemical reaction that results from combining the lactic acid in buttermilk with baking soda. This creates the carbon dioxide responsible for the rise of the crumb in this bread bargain.

Our recipe is basic and can serve as a starting point for the many versions of soda bread that exist. Feel free to vary it to your liking, flavouring the dough with herbs and spices, enriching it with seeds and nuts, replacing the flours indicated with others or whatever you fancy.

If you don't eat the whole loaf on the day of baking, we recommend slicing it and storing it in the fridge in a plastic bag. It will keep for a couple of days, although it will be tastier if you put it in the toaster and accompany it with a good homemade jam, honey, tomato and oil or similar.

Emile Henry round ceramic oven , Laura Ashley porcelain mug and Laura Ashley cup saucer .

Ingredients (for 1 loaf of 900gr)

• 250gr of white wheat flour
• 250gr of whole wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 375ml whole milk
• 40ml lemon juice

Elaboration

1. We mix the whole milk and the lemon juice, stir well and let it rest for 10 to 15 minutes. The lemon cuts the milk and the mixture becomes buttermilk, a dairy product widely used in the preparation of breads and pastries in other countries (central Europe, UK, United States, among others).
2. Meanwhile, we turn on the oven and preheat it to 200ºC, with conventional heat above and below. We place the oven rack in the centre.
3. We use the top of the ceramic bread oven as a container to prepare the bread dough. We add the dry ingredients, that is, white flour, whole wheat flour, sugar, salt and baking soda. We stir until combined.
4. Next, add the buttermilk that we have prepared, little by little, and mix with the help of a knife blade. Work the dough in this way until there is no more buttermilk left to add, then transfer it to a clean work surface and knead for a couple of minutes until you obtain a homogeneous dough.
5. If the dough sticks to the surface, sprinkle it with a little flour and do the same with your hands, this will make it easier to handle. However, you should keep in mind that the dough should be slightly sticky.
6. Form the dough into a ball, sprinkle the Emile Henry ceramic oven tray with flour and place it on top. Using a sharp knife or a baker's knife, make two deep crosswise cuts on the surface, forming a cross.
7. We clean the top of the ceramic oven and place it on the base. We put it in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. After this time, we remove the top and let it bake for another 10 minutes. This way, as the dough comes into direct contact with the heat of the oven, we get a crispy and golden crust. If you want the opposite, we do not remove the top piece and bake the bread inside the ceramic oven for the required 30 minutes.
8. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the ceramic oven base before cutting and serving.

Emile Henry round ceramic oven , Laura Ashley porcelain milk jug , Pallarès carbon steel knife and Laura Ashley denim cotton tablecloth