How to make Buttermilk Soda Bread
Buttermilk soda bread is a simple baking skill that anyone can do. do.
Equipment
- 1 Baking tray with a sheet of baking parchment.
- Mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 450 g white spelt flour or plain white flour
- 1 level teaspoon crushed sea salt or crushed rock salt
- 1 level teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 350 ml buttermilk.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200c/400f/Gas 6 oven and have ready a baking tray lined with baking parchment or a silicone baking sheet.
- Sieve together the flour, salt, bicarbonate, and soda into a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre and add the buttermilk. Using your hands, bring all the ingredients together until you have a soft but not too sticky dough. Tip: Work quickly, and do not over-mix the dough.450 g white spelt flour or plain white flour, 1 level teaspoon crushed sea salt or crushed rock salt, 1 level teaspoon bicarbonate of soda, 350 ml buttermilk.
- Place the dough onto a prepared baking tray and make a deep cross in the centre. Irish folklore says that doing this lets the fairies out, or they may bring bad luck to your bread!
- Bake in the centre of the preheated (hot) oven for 30 - 40 minutes or until baked golden on the outside and baked in the centre. It should sound hollow when you tap the base of the soda bread. I test all my loaves using a thermometer around 94 - 95 deg and I consider it done.
- Fresh baked Soda Bread with butter and strawberry jam on a plate.
- Bread with butter and strawberry jam, served on a plate with sliced homemade bread in the background, perfect for breakfast or tea time with fresh strawberry fruit spread.
- Serve this old fashioned buttermilk soda bread while still warm, with salted butter and jam. Or with soup as a light lunch on a very cold day.
Notes
Storage
Room Temperature - I find soda bread is best eaten on the day it is made. It will store in an airtight container for a few days. Gently reheat in a moderate oven if you wish, or toast a few slices for breakfast the next day.
Freeze - I imagine it would freeze well, but this is not something I have tried.
Tips and Faq
Work quickly when mixing the soda bread ingredients, and do not over-mix the dough. What Makes Soda Bread Rise? The reaction of the bicarbonate of soda and the acidity in buttermilk makes soda bread dough rise in the oven.
Once the buttermilk and bicarbonate of soda are mixed together with the dry ingredients, you need to work quickly.
