White Soda Bread

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I wasn't so sure this bread would turn out as it is such a simple, easy recipe. It turned out perfect. I was serving Corned Beef and Cabbage for St. Patrick's Day and this was just what we wanted. We did use 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon baking soda with 3 1/4 cups flour and 1 1/2 cups cold buttermilk (lowfat plus a couple more tablespoons buttermilk to make it come together. I did kneed it for 10 seconds to bring it all together on my floured surface. After cutting the top, I placed it on a flat cast iron skillet and put it in my oven for the exact time specified. It came out golden brown, hearty, and delicious. We'll make it with our favorite soups in the future and it'll be perfect. We also live at high altitude and we baked it at 450 degrees in an electric oven with no problem or change in recipe. Would highly recommend as a go to bread!

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The flavor is bland. Next time I'll add some sugar and ??

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I never use eggs-sugar-butter-those go in cakes
I use 2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsps baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda

243 caraway seeds
handful of raisins
mix dry stuff
1 cup buttermilk
knead dough-2-3 flips
grease a CAST IRON PAN
oven temp 350
check after 45-60 minutes
or two pints of Harp
\makes small loaf-double for double pleasure
I normally make 8-12 in March-other times 1 or 2 at a time

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I'm Irish and very into my heritage, this is delicious and easy! I make it all the time.

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The beloved New Matriarch of Ballymaloe Cooking School has made a True Believer that Less Is Better.Watched Her prepare this or a similar loaf on Chef Flay's Show from Ireland.Lovely.Have Several of the Allen Family Cookery Books.You cannot go wrong with this recipe. It may "feel" a little "wet".As tho' You have to pour it into the Loaf Pan.Follow Mrs.Allen and Perfection.A Great Irish Bread recipe from a rariefied Donien of Ireland's Cuisine and Heritage of cooking/baking Organically and Knowing Where the Food Items came from are quite integral to One and All.{Metric is More Precise}.

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If you are using an electric oven 450 degrees is fine. If you are using a gas oven back the temperature down to 410 degrees. Keep in mind that gas ovens remove moisture from the product. Ireland uses mainly electric cooking appliances so all recipes call for a higher cooking temperature.

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My family has made this for generations by adding raisins that have soaked in warm water for about 20 minutes and caraway seeds.

I have one version where a beaten egg is added with the milk.

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Use 1 tsp. salt and baking soda. Every measurement conversion site I've found says that a British teaspoon and an American teaspoon are the same, only at the tablespoon level does it vary (an American Tablespoon = 3 teaspoons, a British Tablespoon = 4 teaspoons. The note is confusing, as is the 1 teaspoon / 1/2 American teaspoon comment in the ingredient list. Even if the recipe was cut down from something that was measured in British tablespoons, the variance in 1 teaspoon wouldn't be correct, either a teaspoon is right or it isn't, whichever side of the pond you are on.

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This was the first time I'd made a soda bread. I was alarmed by how much the bread darkened. And was also worried about the size the recipe said to pat the dough out, seemed too thin and too hot an oven.
But I was very happily surprised. The bread turned out chewy, moist and tasty. This is a keeper recipe.

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This bread is very similar to the soda bread I've enjoyed in Ireland many times. Although easy to put together, it's surprisingly tasty as is. Of course, it's extremely well suited to butter or fruit spreads, and just plain delicious when served with soups, stews, or even chili.

The recipe as written is a little confusing, however. Be sure to use 1/2 tsp of salt and baking soda (i.e. just ignore the Note. I usually find that 1/2 tsp baking soda sufficiently neutralizes the acid in 1 cup of buttermilk, so I actually used 3/4 tsp of baking soda for this recipe (which uses roughly 1.5 cups of buttermilk. Also, I would recommend using 12 oz of all purpose flour mixed with 4 oz of pastry or cake flour. Flour in Ireland has a much lower protein content than flour in the U.S. So using some pastry or cake flour helps produce a softer crumb more similar to the soda bread in Ireland. Also, I would recommend baking this in a cast iron skillet instead of a baking sheet if possible. This will produce a wonderful, firm crust on the bottom of the loaf that is just plain amazing!