Re: Irish Soda Bread

Posted by Nancy H. on April 10, 1999 at 04:25:59:

In Reply to: Re: Irish Soda Bread posted by Willie mc Curdy on March 07, 1999 at 18:38:36:

: : I am searching for a good Recipe for I rish soda bread. For 100 guests. Please help.

: This recipie is from "Talking about Cakes" by Margaret Bates (Penguin Books 1973).
: Margaret Bates was Vice-Principal of the City of Belfast College of Domestic Science,
: and also wrote "The Belfast Cookery Book" and "Talking about Puddings". Miss Bates died in 1968.

: 1 lb flour, 1 teaspoon salt, half a teaspoon baking soda, half a teaspoon of cream of tartar
: and buttermilk to mix.
: Sieve the flour, salt, baking soda and cream of tartar into a bowl. Be careful to avoid
: all lumps in the soda, and if necessary crush in the palm of the hand before sieving.
: Then, using a metal spoon, mix lightly and quickly with the buttermilk; add just sufficient
: to give a soft but not sticky, dough. It is difficult to give an exact quantity of milk as this varies with the flour.

: Turn the dough on to a lightly floured board and shape into a round cake using floured hands.
: Cut into four farls and either bake in a hot oven or cook on the griddle.
: Suggested oven temperatures are mark 7 or 450 F, and the cake of bread will require approximately
: 30 minutes according to the thickness of the farls.

: If cooked on the griddle, turn after 5-7 minutes, when it should be nicely browned on the underside
: and complete the cooking on the other side.
: Soda bread is all the softer for being wrapped in the flods of a clean cloth to cool.

: Willie's comments:
: I am not a professional baker but I would offer the following observations.
: Griddle or hotplate farls are superior to oven baked farls.
: A professional would mix a batch large enough to load his hotplate or hotplates,
: (pancake griddle in the USA? but set at a lower heat?) by hand in a large mixing bowl.

: After shaping into rounds each round in cut into quarters (the farls). Take two
: quarters, vertically flip one quarter over and gently press the two farls together
: and place the pair of farls on the hotplate. Repeat for the other 2 farls and all
: the other rounds. You get a lot more farls on the hotplate this way.
: Do a few test bakes until you get the heat setting OK.

: I have seen rofessionals cover the fully loaded hotplate with damp flour sacks (linnen)
: as the moisture helps the rise. Check often to avoid burned or tough crust.
: Cover the farls with clean cloths when cooling.

: If you can get a supply of Irish soda bread flour, just add the buttermilk.
: Bakers butternilk seems richer that the shop (store) kind. If you do not have buttermilk
: add a few drops of lemon juice to plain milk and leave it to stand for a few minutes.
: Everyone has their favourite brand of flour. When mixing, keep the hand work very light.
: Neill's and Andrews (the family firm of the designer of the Titanic) are good.
: I prefer Mortons "Early Riser" Soda Bread Flour. Mortons give 8 ounces (225 gms) of
: soda bread flour to one quarter (UK) pint (150 mls) of buttermilk for four farls.

: Mortons Soda Bread Flour ingredients are listed as;
: Flour, Raising Agents:(Acid Sodium Pyrophosphate, Acid Calcium Phosphate, Sodiul Bicarbonate), salt.
: Morton's address is:
: Percy Street, Belfast, BT13 2HW, Northern Ireland.

: Wheat meal flour can be substituted for part of the plain flour for Wheaten farls,
: corn meal for Indian farls, or some treacle can be added to the plain mix for treacle farls.

: When cooled split the farls (quarters) in two and cut each split half into two
: fry in hot fat or oil with potato bread, small pancakes, bacon, sausage,
: black pudding (blood sausage), tomato halves and over easy eggs for a full Irish breakfast.

: You did not say, but if you wanted a tea bread, if so use double the mix add some dried sultanas
: and raisins, dried mixed peel too if liked. Bake in the oven in square tins (the rise should be about double)
: and tip out and cover with clean cloths while on the cooling rack.
: Slice when cool and spread with Butter.
: Willie, that was such a lengthy & generous treatise on Irish soda bread. I don't know where the original requester is, but allow me to thank you. My Irish great grandmother alwys seerved us soda bread on our visits (the ONLY thing she cooked!), and i am definitely going to try your bread. Thanks!

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