Chef's Notes
My mother talks about her grand mother’s soda bread but she never made it for me when I was growing up. My great grand mother was long gone before I came along and it took visiting Ireland to taste this simple peasant bread before I knew it’s allure. Thankfully mom kept the recipe so now we can all give it a try. “Slainte”
Step 1: Sifting the dry ingrediants
- 4 cups flour
- 1 tbsp baking soda
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Sift all the dry ingredients into a large bowl.
Step 2: Cut in the Butter
- 1/3 cup butter
Using a pastry cutter cut the butter into the dry ingredients till it resembles a coarse meal.
Step 3: Add the milk and shape
- 1 cup of milk
Mix the dough till combined but don’t over mix as you don’t want to create too much gluten.
Once it’s come together turn out the dough on a floured counter top and shape into a ball. using a bench scraper cut the ball into two pieces and shape each one into a ball. I will take the ball and fold it in half, turn it 45 degrees and do this about 4 times. Again if you over work the dough you’ll create gluten and the bread will be tough. I tuck the edge under the bottom to make a perfect round.
Step 4: Cut the top
- corn meal
Before you place the balls onto a parchment lined or lightly greased baking sheet. Lightly spread some corn meal around.
With a sharp knife cut an X into the top of each loaf.
Place in oven for 30 – 35 minutes or till when you tap the bottom of the loaf it sounds hollow.