The Hirshon Irish “Spotted Dog” Soda Bread Image Used Under Creative Commons License From scrambledhenfruit.blogspot.com
Citizens, with this week’s Brexit vote, we have already highlighted a Scottish recipe since the Scots are likely to secede from the United Kingdom based on the vote.
Now, here is an Irish recipe since that country is possibly going to merge with Northern Ireland in the near future as well based on the historic result of this decision!
Irish soda bread is a variety of “quick bread” in which sodium bicarbonate (otherwise known as baking soda) is used as a leavening agent instead of the more common yeast.
The ingredients of traditional soda bread are flour, bread soda, salt, and buttermilk. The buttermilk in the dough contains lactic acid, which reacts with the baking soda to form tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide.
In Ireland, the flour is typically made from soft wheat; so soda bread is best made with a cake or pastry flour (made from soft wheat), which has lower levels of gluten than a bread flour.
In some recipes, the buttermilk is replaced by live yogurt or even stout – we will stay with the classic. Various forms of soda bread are popular throughout Ireland. Soda breads are made using wholemeal, white flour, or both.
In Ulster, the wholemeal variety is usually known as wheaten bread and normally sweetened, while the term “soda bread” is restricted to the white savoury form.
In the southern provinces of Ireland, the wholemeal variety is usually known as brown bread and is almost identical to the Ulster wheaten. In some parts of Fermanagh, the white flour form of the bread is described as fadge.
Other ingredients can be added such as butter, egg, raisins, or nuts, but to a traditionalist this would not be “true” soda bread. The “imposter” recipe most enjoyed today is known as “spotted dog”, so called because of the admixture of currants into the bread.
Spotted dog is best made with a combination of white and brown flour – TFD prefers it more balanced to white.
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Ingredients
- 3 ½ cups unbleached white cake or pastry flour
- ½ cup unbleached wholemeal (brown) cake or pastry flour (or just use white, if you prefer)
- 3 tbs sugar
- 1 tbs baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- 6 tbs cold Irish butter (TFD prefers Kerry brand), cut into small cubes
- 1 ½ cups currants
- 1 tbs caraway seed
- 2 eggs
- 1 ½ cups buttermilk
Instructions
- All steps MUST be done by hand—an electric mixture will ruin the texture!!!
- In a large bowl stir together the dry ingredients. Cut in the butter with a fork or pie mixer until the mixture is coarse and crumbly.
- Stir in currants and caraway seeds.
- In a separate bowl, beat eggs, and remove about one tablespoon and set it aside.
- Add the buttermilk to the remaining beaten eggs.
- Stir well, and then pour into the flour mixture. Stir until the mixture is moistened and the dough is very sticky.
- Turn onto a well-floured surface and knead dough for about ten quick strokes, folding as you knead. Shape into a ball. Place in a two-quart round glass casserole dish.
- With a sharp knife, cut a cross into the top of the loaf. Traditionally, this blesses the bread or lends good luck to the cook. It also lets the steam out while cooking and makes it easier to break into hunks. Brush top with the remaining egg.
- Bake for about an hour and twenty minutes at 350° F until golden brown, and a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool on a rack for ten minutes or so before removing from the casserole.
- Serve with plenty of sweet butter and a cup of tea.
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