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IRISH SODA BREADS
Organic Plain flour or Organic Light Brown Plain flour
In Ireland, traditional bread was made at home on the farm and baked in an iron pot suspended over a peat fire.
ORGANIC IRISH SODA BREAD
This bread gets its light texture and superb flavour from mixing Marriage’s Organic Plain white flour, a creamy white flour, with buttermilk and bicarbonate of soda. For a sweet speckled bread add a tablespoon sugar and 100g dried fruit or chopped dark chocolate.
You can make a delicious Brown Soda Bread, light with a great texture, by adding Marriage’s Organic Light Brown Plain flour, both variants shown below.
Makes 1 medium loaf
- 450g Marriage’s Organic Plain White flour
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- About 350ml buttermilk
- A non-stick baking sheet, lightly dusted with flour
Preheat the oven to 220°C, 425°F, Gas Mark 7.
Sieve the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a bowl and make a well in the centre. Put the buttermilk into the well and mix it into the dry ingredients with a round-bladed knife, or your hands, to make a soft, slightly sticky rough-looking dough.
Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and shape it into a ball. Set the dough on the baking-sheet and gently flatten it so it is 3 to 4 cm high. Using a table knife, score the dough with a cross. Dust with a little flour then bake for about 35 minutes until it is golden brown. If it sounds hollow it is ready. If it gives a dull thud, bake it for a few minutes longer and test again. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Best eaten warm the same day.
ORGANIC IRISH BROWN SODA BREAD
Makes 1 medium loaf
- 200g Marriage’s Organic Light Brown Plain flour
- 200g Marriage’s Organic Plain White flour
- 25g wheat germ
- 25g wheat bran
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
- 350ml buttermilk
- A non-stick baking sheet, lightly dusted with flour
Preheat the oven to 220°C, 425°F, Gas Mark7.
Mix the flours with the wheat germ and bran, the salt and bicarbonate of soda in a bowl. Add the buttermilk and mix in with a round-bladed knife to make a soft and slightly sticky but rough looking dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and shape it into a ball. Set on the baking sheet and flatten gently to about 3 to 4 cm high then score with a cross. Dust with a little Organic Light Brown flour then bake for about 35 minutes until lightly browned and sounds hollow when tapped underneath. Cool on a wire rack. Best eaten warm the same day.
