Dr Mobeus
Irish Soda Bread
Soda bread is the loaf for people who think they cannot bake bread. There is no yeast, no proving and no kneading, just flour and soured milk lifted by a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda. From empty bowl to warm loaf takes under an hour, and most of that is oven time.
Recipes always call for buttermilk, which costs more than the loaf is worth if you buy it for one bake. The frugal trick is to stir lemon juice into ordinary whole milk and let it sit for five minutes. It behaves exactly the same and the whole loaf then costs about 85p, or roughly 11p a slice.
The deep cross cut into the top is not just for looks. It lets the heat reach the thickest part of the dough so the middle bakes through, though folklore says it lets the fairies out, and you should never argue with folklore. Soda bread is best eaten on the day it is made, warm, with far too much butter.
Irish Soda Bread
Ingredients
Method
- Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan and put a baking tray inside to heat up.
- Stir the lemon juice into the milk and leave it to sit for 5 minutes until it looks slightly curdled. This soured milk does the same job as buttermilk at a fraction of the price.
- Mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a large bowl and make a well in the middle.
- Pour in the soured milk and stir with a knife or wooden spoon for about 20 seconds, just until it comes together into a soft, slightly sticky dough. Do not overwork it.
- Tip onto a floured surface, shape quickly into a round about 20cm across and lift it onto the hot tray. Cut a deep cross in the top, almost all the way through.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes until well risen, golden and hollow-sounding when you tap the base. Cool on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes before cutting.
Tips and Variations
If the dough feels too dry to come together, add another splash of milk, it should be soft and slightly sticky rather than stiff. The hot tray gives the loaf a much better bottom crust. Eat it the same day or toast it the next, and wrap anything left over because soda bread dries out quickly. A handful of seeds or porridge oats worked into the dough makes a heartier loaf for almost no extra cost.
Egg Custard Tart
