Irish Soda Bread

Some friends and I went out for dinner on St. Patrick’s day. The restaurant was reported to be good but we found the food a total bust.  We had a great time nonetheless and really enjoyed each other’s company.  During our conversation, we decided that we would all get together for a real Irish feast – one of our own making and we would do it potluck style!!

I got the (easy) job of bringing the bread so I spent some time learning about Ireland and bread.  Turns out that soda bread was (maybe still is?) the common bread there. So, today I was busy learning how to make Irish Soda Bread.

From wikipedia: “In Ireland, the flour is typically made from soft wheat; so soda bread is best made with a cake or pastry flour (made from soft wheat), which has lower levels of gluten than a bread flour. In some recipes, the buttermilk is replaced by live yoghurt or even stout. Bakers recommend the minimum amount of mixing of the ingredients before baking; the dough should not be kneaded. Various forms of soda bread are popular throughout Ireland. Soda breads are made using either wholemeal or white flour. In Ulster, the wholemeal variety is usually known as wheaten bread and normally sweetened, while the term “soda bread” is restricted to the white savoury form. In more southern parts of Ireland, the wholemeal variety is usually known as brown soda and is almost identical to the Ulster wheaten (with a very slight difference). The Soda farl or “Griddle cakes”, “Griddle bread” (or “Soda farls” in Ulster) take a more rounded shape and have a cross cut in the top to allow the bread to expand. The griddle cake or farl is a more flattened type of bread. It is cooked on a griddle allowing it to take a more flat shape and split into four sections. The Soda Farl is one of the distinguishing elements of the Ulster Fry, where it is served alongside potato bread, also in farl form.”

I was surprised at the variation in the each of the recipes that I found so I decided I had better try two of them, just to be safe.  I chose Amazingly Easy Irish Soda Bread and Jim’s Cheddar Onion Soda Bread.

They are very easy to make and turned out excellent.  All the people that ate the bread said that they liked it – possibly just   being polite?  No, not these folks!! 🙂