DOWNEY'S SODA BREAD

By BobD

Ingredients

• 3 LOAVES
• Baguette-like loaves make this Irish classic easy to slice, providing perfectly sized portions.
• 5 cups whole-wheat flour (preferably stone-ground)
• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour plus additional for dusting
• 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened and cut into pieces
• 2 1/4 cups well-shaken buttermilk at room temperature
• 2 large eggs at room temperature, lightly beaten
• ACCOMPANIMENTS: creme fraiche; jam

Details

Servings 3
Adapted from gourmet.com

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 425F with rack in middle.

Blend flours, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, and butter in a large bowl with a pastry blender or your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal.

Stir in buttermilk and eggs until a smooth dough forms.

Transfer to a lightly floured surface and divide into 3 pieces.

Form each piece into a 16-inch-long log and arrange, evenly spaced, on a lightly floured baking sheet.

Generously sprinkle with flour and cut 3 diagonal shallow slashes on each log with a very sharp knife.

Bake 30 minutes, then reduce oven to 375F and continue to bake until a wooden pick or skewer inserted into center of a loaf comes out clean, about 20 minutes.

Transfer loaves to a rack to cool.

Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

COOKS NOTE: Soda bread is best the day it is made, but loaves can be tightly wrapped in 2 layers of foil and frozen 1 month.

Refresh, wrapped in foil, in a 325F oven until heated through, about 20 minutes.