Irish Soda Bread is probably one of the easiest and fastest to prepare. This is the example that you can make bread with the so-called chemical yeast, chemical booster or, also known as Royal yeast. Its preparation is more similar to that of a sponge cake than that of bread: it only requires mixing its ingredients and baking, without the need to knead or wait for resting times. This is mainly because it is an unleavened bread –understood as baker’s yeast–, so no fermentation process occurs. The leavening is given thanks to soda, better known here as sodium bicarbonate, which reacts when it gets hot.
This bread can be prepared with both common wheat flour and wholemeal flour, although the latter gives it extra flavor. Although it is completely optional, there are also many recipes that add raisins. As for the shape of the bread, you can choose to bake it in a mold so that it is elongated or to form a kind of loaf.
recipe information
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- Preparation time: 10 minutes
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- Cooking time: 40 minutes
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- total time: 50 minutes
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- rations:8
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- Category: loaves
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- type of cuisine: irish
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- calories: 211 kcal per 100 g
Soda bread ingredients for 8 people
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- 450 g of wholemeal flour
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- 300 ml of whole milk
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- 10 g white wine vinegar or lemon juice
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- 3g of salt
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- 6g baking soda or 1 sachet chemical booster (Royal)
how to make soda bread
Heat the oven to 200ºC. Add the vinegar or lemon juice to the milk so that it thickens.
The result is what is known as buttermilk, a dairy product that is marketed as such but is not common on the shelves of our markets and supermarkets. Its appearance is lumpy milk.
In a bowl, mix the flour well with the salt and bicarbonate of soda.
add the buttermilk to the previous mixture and integrate well until obtaining a mass. It is not necessary to knead.
Form the bread as desired. To make a loaf, round the dough and place it on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Make two cross cuts and bake. To make the bread in a mold, give it an elongated shape and place it in an elongated mold lined with parchment paper. Make a longitudinal cut on one of its sides and bake for approximately 40 minutes.
To check that the bread is ready, remove it from the oven, turn it over and tap it to check that it sounds hollow.
Easy preparation summary
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- Heat the oven to 200ºC
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- Add the vinegar or lemon juice to the milk to make it thicken
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- In a bowl, mix the flour with the salt and bicarbonate of soda.
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- add the buttermilk to flour. Mix the elements well until you get a dough.
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- Give it an elongated or loaf shape and place it in an elongated mold or on a baking tray lined with parchment paper respectively.
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- Make a longitudinal cut if it is elongated or two cross cuts if it is a loaf
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- Bake for 40 minutes
