What is irish soda bread

Amber Powell Nawa. This is the best soda bread I've ever had. Even better than our beloved local Irish pub. I basted it about 5 times during baking, and each time I sprinkled a little sugar on top too! It was moist and just sweet enough. It even tasted better the next day straight out of the refrigerator!

I baked it at degrees for 50 minutes basting it 3 times and each time I sprinkled sugar all over the top again. It was perfect and everyone raved about it! The crust was crunchy and sugary and the inside was moist and sweet! Really puts it over the top. Great recipe. Takes little time to make and was delicious. I added raisins to a loaf and it went fast. Wish I had added raisins to both loaves that I made. Going to make it again for Easter. My daughter can't wait.

Does dry out quickly after slicing but makes great toast the next morning. I made this bread today for our St. Patrick's Day celebration.

It is awesome! It's crunchy on the outside and moist and sweet on the inside. It tastes fabulous. Our guests loved it too. I highly recommend it and plan on making it often. Brushing the butter and buttermilk mixture a few times while baking really added a great crust.

Bon Appetite! Rating: 4 stars. The recipe name says it all - really easy. And really good. Wanted an easy Irish Soda Bread to take into work for St. Patrick's Day, and this was it! Make a well in the centre and pour in the buttermilk, mixing quickly with a large fork to form a soft dough. Depending upon the absorbency of the flour, you may need to add a little milk if the dough seems too stiff but it should not be too wet or sticky. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly.

Form into a round and flatten the dough slightly before placing on a lightly floured baking sheet. Cut a cross on the top and bake for about 30 minutes or until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Cool on a wire rack. If you don't have buttermilk for the soda bread recipe, you can use half-and-half plain yoghurt mixed with milk.

You can also use milk that has been soured by stirring in a tablespoon of lemon juice and allowing it to stand for 10 minutes. By Nigella Lawson. See more Baking therapy recipes By Nadiya Hussain. See more soda bread recipes By Hala El-Shafie. To further confuse matters, Spotted Dog is known as Railway Cake when it's baked in a loaf pan. Good luck keeping all those names straight!

Patrick's Day? Whatever it's called, soda bread is among the easiest, most forgiving home-baked goods, and it's one of the quickest breads to go from mixing bowl to table. Since there's no yeast involved, it's nearly impossible to mess it up. In fact, the less you handle the dough, the better. As Allen explains, when it came to traditional soda bread, "it was a compliment of the highest order to be described as having 'a light hand. Martha's take on the authentic Irish loaf—with a combination of graham and all-purpose flours filling in for the Irish whole grain, and butter added for richness—and this rye version are both heavenly served with smoked trout, strong cheeses like Cashel blue, warm bowls of hearty soup, or simply slathered with salted Irish butter.

From there, you can try one of the sweeter, cakier versions. The last step in making any loaf of soda bread is to cut a cross in the top of the dome of dough. According to Irish legend, this is to "let the devil out," but the technique actually serves a practical purpose. The deep slash allows the dough to cook evenly from crust to inner crumb, creating the inimitable texture that American culinary icon James Beard described as "velvety.

As for the name, the easiest way to clear up the confusion may be to simply refer to the raisin- and caraway-studded version as Irish American Soda Bread, as it's called in the Joy of Cooking. In that most American of American cookbooks, the bread is aptly described as "richer, sweeter and more cake-like than authentic Irish soda bread, which we are assured never made the acquaintance of a raisin or caraway seed either.

The one caveat about making soda bread from scratch is that it is best eaten on the day that it's baked.