Irish Soda Bread........What's the history behind it?

Does anyone know the history behind Irish Soda Bread?

Anyone have a good recipe for it?

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
2 tablespoons cold vegetable shortening
1 egg, beaten
1 cup buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix well. Cut the butter and shortening into small pieces and add to the flour mixture. Using your fingers, work the cold butter and shortening into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add the egg and the buttermilk and mix into the flour mixture until it is incorporated. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead gently until the dough forms a smooth ball. Place loaf on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Place the loaf in the oven and bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until golden brown.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_9353,00.html


I've tried this, and it's pretty tasty. :9

Edited - copied and pasted the wrong recipe! x(

I love it but I don't know the History behind it and one of my grandparents was from Ireland.

Jewel Grocery Store in Chicago needs to learn how to make it because they charge $3.99 for a disgusting loaf of Irish Soda Bread.

I call currants kitty boogers because of the way that they look.

I copied and pasted the wrong recipe. :dunce:

The correct one is really easy, and has no fruit.

Currants look like dog and kitty boogers.

Sliced, grilled with cheese.
OR
Fried in an ocean of hot hot hot IRISH bacon fat.

I am getting hungry.

They serve it with all meals and I just don't like it.

in this case, poverty in the type of flour they had available to make bread. Buttermilk and baking soda were used as the leavener because yeast didn't work well with the poor flour.

4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
2 cups buttermilk

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl.
3. Stir the buttermilk into the dry ingredients to form a soft dough.
4. Knead the dough lightly on a floured board. (Don't knead too much or the final product will be tough!)
5. Shape the dough into a round loaf no more than 8 inches in diameter on a baking sheet.
6. With a floured knife, cut a cross in the top of the loaf.
7. Bake the loaf until it sounds hollow when tapped, about 30-40 minutes.


When it says 'don't knead too much' they aren't kidding. Really, it is better to under knead than over knead.

Soda bread got its start because you need a strong flour from hard (Durum) wheat to use yeast, and that does not grow well in Ireland. Soda, combined with an acidic substance is used to leaven the bread.

Here's my sister-in-law's recipe:

Irish Soda Bread

You can make do with 3 cups of white flour instead of the two + one mix in the recipe

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 cups buttermilk or plain yogurt
2 eggs


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Combine dry ingredients.

Mix eggs and buttermilk. Add to the dry ingredients.

Pour dough onto lightly floured board and knead 10 times.

Shape into a round loaf, adding flour if necessary.

Place in a lightly greased pan.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 hour or until the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.

Found this recipe on that site posted - this is what I ate when I went to Ireland - called "Brown Bread". Yummmm!!

Brown Bread

3 cups (12 oz) of wheat flour

1 cup (4 oz) of white flour (do not use self-rising as it already contains baking powder and salt)

2 ounces of butter

14 ounces of buttermilk (pour in a bit at a time until the dough is moist)

1 teaspoon of salt

1 1/2 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda.



Method:

Preheat the oven to 425 F. degrees. Lightly crease and flour a cake pan.

In a large bowl sieve and combine all the dry ingredients. Rub in the butter until the flour is crumbly.

Add the buttermilk to form a sticky dough. Place on floured surface and lightly knead (too much allows the gas to escape)

Shape into a round flat shape in a round cake pan and cut a cross in the top of the dough.

Cover the pan with another pan and bake for 30 minutes. Remove cover and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

The bottom of the bread will have a hollow sound when tapped so show it is done.

Cover the bread in a tea towel and lightly sprinkle water on the cloth to keep the bread moist.

Let cool and you are ready to have a buttered slice with a nice cup of tea or coffee.

http://216.239.41.104/custom?q=cache:GAIAOy9cJ7YJ:www.bookguy.com/cooking/Sodabread.htm+history+Irish+Soda+bread&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

The site tells you the history. :D

:dem:

Only the wealthy could afford flour made from hard wheat, because it was imported. The rest had to make do with soda bread or oat bread--- or none at all.

I had to go to the Google cache since it doesn't seem to exist anymore...

Society for the Preservation of Soda Bread Essentially, leave out the currants, raisins, and orange zest if you want real soda bread.

I am too lazy to go up to the Library which is 2 blocks from my house and Barnes and Noble doesn't have a copy of it.

It gave the history on the bread and it had to do with poverty.

Thanks guys.

do the recipes above make white soda bread? I'm not as drawn to the brown bread. The best I ever ate was in Ireland and was snow white inside and tasted as soft as clouds. GAH! I loved it so.

I bet the dark one has a different leavening in it or it uses a different kind of flour. It might even be made with molasses or something like that.

Thanks!