Irish soda Bread

By blum099

A traditional Irish soda bread is perfect for a St. Patrick’s Day dinner or anytime you want a simple to prepare and delicious bread.

Ingredients

• 8 ounces plain white flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Enough buttermilk to make the dough into a thick, knead-able constistency.

Details

Servings 8
Preparation time 5mins
Cooking time 70mins
Adapted from marie-mckeown.hubpages.com

Preparation

Step 1

Add flour, baking soda and salt to a large bowl. Starting with just 1 large splash of buttermilk, mix, when the dough is of a thick, workable consistency it is ready to be cooked. It should be like very thick bread dough, not at all runny like pancake mix.

Meanwhile warm your griddle in preparation. (If you don't have a griddle, a wide flat frying pan will do). Dust the griddle with a little dry flour to stop the farl mix from sticking to the pan.Turn the dough out onto a floured board, knead lightly to form a round shape - then flatten it lightly with a rolling pin. Cut the circle into four or eight wedges and bake them on the griddle, a few wedges at a time. It should take around 5 -10 mins each side, depending on how hot your griddle is.

When the underside has formed a firm skin, turn the wedge over using a slice and turn down the heat if necessary as the bread cooks on its second side. After a few minutes cooking on the second side, use a skewer to check if the farl is cooked through. Keep cooking until the skewer comes out clean. You don't want soft uncooked dough in the centre of your farl!

Let the farls cool slightly on a wire wrack. For best results serve warm with butter and jam.

NOTE: If you cannot find buttermilk in your local supermarket, you can substitute with normal milk mixed with a generous squeeze of lemon juice. It's the acid in the buttermilk that makes the soda rise and gives this bread its great flavour.

A WORD OF CAUTION: Soda farls are the easiest bread in the world - once you've seen an expert make them a couple of times! If you are trying this recipe for the first time, allow that it might take a little practice before you get it completely right.

The best tips I can give you are 1) make sure the dough is of a thick consistency, 2) get your griddle at a good temperature - if it is smoking it is too hot, if the bread is barely cooking then it is too low and 3) use a skewer to check each farl is cooked through until you get good at judging when the farls are ready