This week we are making Irish Soda Bread which can be found
on page 214 in Baking with Julia. I decided to make this bread on St. Patrick’s
Day as I planned on cooking up a batch of homemade Vegetable Beef Soup and needed
something else to go with it. I also
decided to make half the recipe as both I and my husband can’t really eat all
this by ourselves.
Reading through the recipe, I just knew it would be super
easy to make. And it was! This recipe only requires about 5 minute’s
prep time and very little effort. How
many recipes do that!
I did not buy buttermilk as I had my old standby in the
refrigerator. I always keep SACO
Cultured Buttermilk Blend on hand for recipes that call for it. Buttermilk can be hard to find in the grocery
store and I usually need a lot less than the quart size you must purchase. This is a great alternative as it lets you
make only what you need. It is very similar to nonfat dry milk. Here is a picture of the container for
reference.
Once I had the dough
mixed, it was quick to shape the loaf and get it in a stoneware pan. I used a small round one and it fit
perfectly. I slashed the top as
described in the recipe and placed it in my oven.
Because I only make half a loaf, I needed to adjust my
cooking time. I set the timer on my over
for 30 minutes just to be safe. If I needed a little more time, it would be
easy to add. If you bake it too long, well we all know what happens then! When the timer went off, I checked on the
bread and decided it needed a little longer as it was not quite brown enough
for me. I added another 10 minutes and
it was done.
My husband loved this and it was so moist. I had a small piece leftover for two days and
it still tasted just a good. I’m not
sure why Julia said it would be as hard as a blarney stone because I did not
experience that at all. This recipe is
truly a keeper and in the future I will try to be creative and add some
additional surprises. I like the idea of
raisins for a sweeter loaf and also the cheese and herbs for a more savory
experience.
Happy Baking!
Karen
I used the same powdered buttermilk in mine, as well! My mom brought me back a canister from the states and I had no idea what to use it for, but when this recipe came up I was tickled to have it :) Worked great, much better than buying a big carton of the stuff and letting it go slowly bad in the fridge :P
ReplyDeleteI always keep a tub of that in my fridge :-) They should sell buttermilk in pint sizes like they do with heavy cream.
ReplyDeleteLooks lovely!