White Soda Bread
White Soda Bread
This is a quick bread leavened with chemical raising agents rather than yeast
Ingredients
Makes an 800-850 g loaf
500g plain flour, plus extra to dust
1½ tsp salt
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tbsp caster sugar
50g butter
300–350ml buttermilk
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 190°C/gas mark 5. Lightly flour a baking sheet.
- Sift the flour, salt, bicarbonate of soda and sugar into a large bowl and stir in the dried fruit
- Cut the butter into 1cm pieces and rub into the flour mixture with your fingertips, then briskly stir in just enough buttermilk to make a soft dough.
- Transfer to the floured baking sheet and shape, with a minimum of handling, into a large disc about 4–5cm thick. With the floured handle of a wooden spoon, make a dent 2cm deep in the shape of a cross on top, then lightly dust with flour.
- Bake in the oven for 35–45 minutes, until the soda bread is risen, golden brown and with no greyness evident in the cross. Remove to a wire rack to cool.
Note: If you can’t find buttermilk, use milk and add 2 tsp cream of tartar to the dry ingredients. Alternatively, add 2–3 tbsp lemon juice
to ordinary milk and leave in a warm place for 10–15 minutes to sour the milk, which will provide enough acidity.