Category: Bread

IRISH AMERICAN SODA BREAD v.2.0* by Foodie’s Chef Laura Brennan

Traditional Irish soda bread is made with whole wheat flour, currants, caraway seeds, buttermilk and baking soda to leaven the loaf. No butter, no sugar, no eggs in the original, rustic, true Irish loaf. It was intended as a no-nonsense quick loaf. My ‘Americanized’ version cuts a bit of butter into the dough to help produce a more tender crumb and adds a bit of sugar is for a touch of sweetness.

v.2.0* And now in my new 2.0 version, I am giving the recipe a few more ‘tweaks’ ( I cannot help it, I am a Chef, ‘tweaking’ is what we do.) I have increased the sugar, switched the currants to dried cranberries, swapped the caraway for fennel seeds, added orange zest and draped an orange confectioner’s glaze over the finished loaf. It will be a bit sweeter and a bit fancier and maybe a bit of sacrilege? (With apologies to my Irish ancestors.)

IRISH AMERICAN SODA BREAD by Foodie’s Chef Laura Brennan

Traditional Irish soda bread is made with whole wheat flour, currants, caraway seeds, buttermilk and baking soda to leaven the loaf. No butter, sugar or eggs. It’s a very rustic, no-nonsense loaf. My ‘Americanized’ version cuts a bit of butter into the dough to help produce a more tender crumb and a
bit of sugar is added for a touch of sweetness. This bread is a one-bowl-wonder and very quick to prepare. Be sure to preheat the oven while you are
gathering and measuring the ingredients.