I LOVE IRISH SODA BREAD. It's fast. It's easy. Make it with coarsely-ground whole wheat (or "graham") flour and a little brown sugar, as I do, and you'll find it's magically delicious.
I hope you don't mind, but a little leprechaun will be assisting us in the kitchen today.
Traditionally, Irish soda bread is baked as a free-form ball, with a cross cut into the top to ward off evil spirits.
Heretic that I am, I bake the dough in a 9x5-inch loaf pan. This way I can easily slice the bread for sandwiches and toast.
Here's the photographic step-by-step recipe, followed by a photo-free (and therefore printer-friendly) copy-and-paste version:
To start, pour 2 cups graham flour and 1 cup all-purpose flour into a big bowl.
No graham flour in your pantry? Use ordinary whole wheat flour.
Then add 1 teaspoon baking powder...
And 1 teaspoon baking soda...
And 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt...
And whisk them all together.
Then whisk in 3 tablespoons of dark brown sugar. You'll end up with some tiny lumps of sugar in the bread, but that's a good thing. As any 19th century Irish cook will tell you, the eater who receives such a sugar-clump in his or her slice of bread will be blessed with good luck.*
*I dare you to produce a 19th-century Irish cook who will contradict the above statement.
Next, pour 1 beaten egg into 1 3/4 cup of buttermilk, and whisk them together.
Then grab a spoon that's as green as the moss in County Kilkenny...
And use it to thoroughly blend the wet ingredients into the dry.
Pour the dough into a generously buttered bread pan, and spread it out with a spatula.
Bake on the lower-middle rack of a preheated 375° oven. Baking is complete when the bread rises about 1 inch above the rim of the pan, and the crust turns a beautiful shade of brown -- 45-50 minutes.
Let cool for 5 minutes, and then unmold onto a wire rack. The bread will slice perfectly once it has cooled completely.
Folks, this bread is delicious as-is.
It's even better when toasted and topped with butter.
Here's a copy-and-paste version of the above:
Whole Wheat Irish Soda Bread
Kevin Lee Jacobs
Ingredients for one 9x5-inch loaf
2 cups graham (or plain whole wheat) flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar (or less, to taste)
1 large, beaten egg
1 3/4 cups buttermilk
Special Equipment: A well-buttered, 9x5-inch loaf pan
Set the oven rack at the lower-middle position; preheat the oven to 375°F
1. Whisk together the flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Then whisk in the brown sugar. (Don't worry about small clumps of sugar.) Whisk the beaten egg into the buttermilk.
2. Using a stout spoon, stir the wet ingredients into the dry. Then spoon the works into the prepared loaf pan. Use a spatula to distribute the dough evenly in the pan.
3. Bake until the bread rises about 1 inch above the rim of the pan, and its crust sounds hollow when rapped with your knuckles -- 45-50 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes, and then unmold onto a wire rack. Cool completely before slicing.
Think you'll give this Whole Wheat Irish Soda Bread a try? You can let me know by leaving a comment. As always, I love hearing from you.
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