The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

NBI's Irish Soda Bread

Trishinomaha's picture
Trishinomaha

NBI's Irish Soda Bread

Here's the finished Irish Soda Bread I did from NBI's recipe. I followed the recipe pretty closely except that I didn't 7" cake pans so I baked them free-form on a Silpat.

 Sugar and Salt

Approximate 1 pound loaves (recipe made 6 loaves)

Finished Bread

So good! Very cake like with good flavors.

Thanks NBI!

Trish

Trishinomaha's picture
Trishinomaha

I'm working on a edit for smaller photos..

T.

nbicomputers's picture
nbicomputers

im glad they did not spread to much and they look like they came out great.

looking at this site is killing me right now. i have to see the doctor on tues  and well...
it the one where you have to drink a gallon of this nasty stuff and they take this tube and .. OUCH!

so between now and then food is just a dream and everything here looks SOOO Good

Trishinomaha's picture
Trishinomaha

The bread is lovely and you have so much to share with all of us. Hang in there! I have so many food blogs book-marked, my husband thinks I'm the food porn queen - it would be very tough for me to look at all the wonderful pictures and not be able to partake.

Trish

b_elgar's picture
b_elgar

 I used a different recipe, but by golly, I made soda bread today, too. I cannot recall where I got this recipe, but I have been using it at least 4 years. My thanks to its creator.

 

 

Irish Soda Bread

   6 + cups flour                 

   1  Tbsp baking soda

    3/4   cup    Sugar

   4 Tbsp butter, cut into pats      

     1  Tbsp baking powder

   1 ½ Tsp Salt

    1 ½ - 2 cups raisins          

   Caraway seeds to taste 2-3 Tbsp

   3 cups Buttermilk

 Irish Soda BreadIrish Soda BreadMix all the dry ingredients in a bowl.  Cut in butter with pastry blender

   Mix in  caraway seeds and raisins. Mix in buttermilk until all flour is incorporated    Knead on floured surface with floured hands

Divide in 2 and shape, making X crosscut with a bench knife. Bake on stone at 375 for 15 minutes, then at 350 until internal temp is 190.
 

Boron

weavershouse's picture
weavershouse (not verified)

Your Irish Soda Bread looks great too. Wish you showed us the inside but it looks delicious.         weavershouse

weavershouse's picture
weavershouse (not verified)

NBI's Irish Soda Bread you made looks delicious. I hope to give this a try tomorrow. I like that you said it's "very cake like with lots of flavor." The last time I made ISB it was kind of dry and dull. Great job.

 

Also, I'm trying to find a couple of Baparoma Bread Pans like several others on this site. Too expensive so far on ebay. Your French Bread looked perfect.                                                                                 weavershouse

Floydm's picture
Floydm

I made soda bread too. I'll try to post some pics too, after I finish my Guinness. :)

PaddyL's picture
PaddyL

Boron, your soda bread looks fantastic and you only used baking soda which is the real deal for bread of this type!

nbicomputers's picture
nbicomputers

i think you missed something

1 tbsp baking soda
1 tbsp baking powder

Trishinomaha's picture
Trishinomaha

The NBI recipe called for baking powder - lots of it 3T. but no baking soda. I think I read somewhere that baking poweder does have soda in it? The Bread tastes good is there an error in the recipe? Here's NBI's link:

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/6141/irish-soda-bread

 

Trish

PaddyL's picture
PaddyL

But in every Irish cookbook I have, and from what I remember from watching my Tipperary-born mother and grandmother bake soda bread, there is no mention of baking powder, only soda.

nbicomputers's picture
nbicomputers

I guess its an americian adptation.

and yes in my formula it's all baking powder no soda at all. 

and just to correct you the amount in my formula is 3 oz not 3 T (3 oz = 6 TBsp just so nobody tries to make it and maks a mistake)

you are right that baking powder is baking soda with one or added acids, one that works as soon as it hits water the other when it hits heat.  its the acids that make the soda work.  with out the soda in baking bowder all you would get is frisbys. 

there is no error in my formula.

Mike Avery's picture
Mike Avery

The guys at http://www.sodabread.us/ have an interesting discussio of Irish Soda Bread.

 

Basically, Irish Soda Bread was invented during the potato famine as a cheap way of putting something into the families tummies.  Raisins weren't part of the package.  True ISB is baking soda, buttermilk (or soured milk), salt and flour.

 

With the addition of raisins, it becomes spotted dog or railway cake. 

If it has baking powder, butter, shortening, raisins or orange zest in it, it's a cake, not a bread. 

 

While these variations are tasty and even good, they aren't a classic Irish Soda Bread, if it is a classic Irish Soda Bread you'd be wanting to make.

 

Mike

 

PaddyL's picture
PaddyL

is fabulous, if that's what you're used to.  Very occasionally, a bit of butter would be cut in, but that would be in celebration of something.  Real soda bread tastes delicious straight out of the oven, hot, with whatever you have with it.  My mother used to slather on the butter.