White Soda Bread

I was looking for an easy (non-yeast) Soda Bread to go with a Corned Beef and Cabbage dinner at our dear friend’s, Cindy and Nick. I was also making a bread pudding with dried fruits for dessert, and I wanted the bread to be simple, yet authentic. This White Soda Bread is so moist, so simple, and so delicious. We ate almost the whole loaf that night at dinner and split what was left to have toast the next morning. I must admit it was delicious both ways. It is is must try!

Makes: 1 loaf
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Bake Time: 60 minutes

NOTE: I also could not find the soda bread flour that the recipe called for, so it said to add 1 heaping teaspoon of baking soda and 1 heaping teaspoon of cream of tartar, to make all purpose flour like soda bread flour. I have included that in the list of ingredients below.

3 ¼ cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon of sea salt
2 teaspoons baking soda (1 of them heaping)
1 heaping teaspoon cream of tartar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 cups buttermilk
Flour for dusting bread before it goes into the oven

Preheat oven to 400° F.

Butter or spray a 7½ x 4½ x 2½-inch pan. Or as close as you can get to that dimension. I used a 9 x 4 x 2½-inch pan.

1. In a large bowl, with a sifter, sift together, flour, salt, soda, cream of tartar and sugar.
2. Make a well in the center and pour in the buttermilk, stirring with a wooden spoon to mix to a spongy dough. Do not over mix.
3. Spoon the porridge-like mixture into the prepared pan. Spread it in the pan but leave the surface rough.
4. Sprinkle with a light dusting of flour. I used the sifter to do this. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes at 400° F.
5. After 30 minutes, reduce the oven temperature to 300° F and bake for another 30 minutes, until the bread is well risen, a light / medium beige and crusty on top.  You may need a little less time on the last 30 minutes if your pan is dark in color.
6. Remove from the oven, and cover with a clean tea towel for 5 minutes in the pan.
7. After 5 minutes, remove from the pan, wrap in the tea towel and leave to cool before cutting. (This is the most difficult part of the recipe).
8. Serve: Cut in slices and serve with butter. Best served the day it is baked. Delicious for toast the next day.

HINT: Why the tea towel? The cloth keeps the bread’s crust from getting to hard and it keeps the bread moist. Some say to sprinkle water on the tea towel, before you wrap the bread.  I did not, and it was still great.

RESOURCE LINKS:

Bread Loaf Pan:

Wooden Corner Spoon:

Flour Sack Towels:

White Soda Bread Ready to Be Cut