Irish Soda Bread

Irish Soda Bread

I want to be a master bread maker, however history has proven that I suck at making bread. I was looking at bread recipes and thought that Irish Soda Bread would fit into my abilities because there's not much to it. Put it all together, not much kneading, bake, butter, eat - how hard can that be? It turns out to be not hard at all. It was just as easy as the recipe said it was and I'll be dipped if it didn't disappear in a matter of minutes after it cooled and some butter was introduced to it. You'd think people around here hadn't eaten in days the way it went down. I have to admit it was pretty dang good. The next time I don't think I'll cut such a deep cross into it - maybe just 1/2 inch or so. Despite the appearance not being exactly what I wanted the taste was spot on! I'm so freaking happy it turned out, I wanted to raise my fists in the air and run around yelling "I am the Irish Soda Bread Champion" - first time in history I've made bread other than pizza crust I wanted to eat.

3 Cups all purpose flour
1 Tsp salt
1 Tbsp oil
1 Heaping tsp soda, sifted
1 Cup + 2 Tbsp buttermilk
bit of water - maybe 2 tablespoons or so - depends on your dough you want it kinda sticky

Grease and flour a 9-12" round bread pan (maybe 2 - 3" high sides. Put flour in a bowl, add salt and soda - mix well. Make a well in the flour mixture and add the butter milk, and oil. Mix well using a spoon adding a bit of water at a time as needed. This will form a very soft (and sticky) dough. The brilliant thing is that next no kneading is needed. Once the dough has come together turn it out onto your flowered counter. You do want to knead it a few times (really only 5 - 10 times), and roll into a ball. With a sharp knife, cut a deep cross across the top of the dough - about an inch or so deep. Give the top of the bread a quick dusting of flour. Put your dough-ball into the prepared pan - make sure the cross is still prominent in the dough - if not do it again. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 45 minutes. Turn the bread out and let cool on a wire rack. Serve with heaps of butter...

Happy Baking & Bon Appetit...

~Nikko

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