I know, it´s not exactly an epiphany but I love it and make it at least two or three times a week. Sometimes I cannot believe that I am really baking my own bread but I never thought it would be that easy. Nothing compares to the smell of bread fresh from the oven and I love the sound of my knife cutting through the warm crust. I am still a bit frightened of the whole yeast thing with soaker and biga, kneading and all rest periods. But some day soon I´ll dare to bake one of those, too!
Out there are countless soda bread recipes. Everybody seems to have one. Over the last few weeks I have tried a lot and this one is perfect for my liking, it´s fluffy and moist, slightly salty, with a bunch of sweet raisins. We eat this bread with everything, cheese, jam, just butter and even with ham and meat. Mostly I use whole weat flour but today I had only white flour left. I ran out of buttermilk as well, so I used yoghurt instead and one more egg as usual. The bread tasted different but also delicious.
This is the basic recipe and a lot of things can be added: e.g. 1 cup of finely chopped apples, 1 cup of grated cheddar, caraway seeds, you can sustitute 1 cup of flour with oats, dust the loaf with polenta, form pretty little scones… just let your imagination run wild.
Ingredients:
4 cups whole weat flour (you can use white one as well or a mixture of both)
1 large egg
2-2,5 cups buttermilk
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
Method:
Preheat the oven to 220 °C (425°F)
Pour boiling water over the raisins and soak them. After about 10 minutes drain well.
Mix the flour, salt and baking soda in a large bowl, in another bowl mix the egg and the buttermilk. Add the mixture and the raisins to the flour.
Work quickly and don´t overknead or the bread will end up tough. The dough should be sticky but if it is too shaggy and cannot hold its shape add a little more flour.
Form the dough into a loaf and transfer it to a slightly greased baking sheet (it will flatten out a bit).
With a serrated knife cut a cross in the top of the loaf (about 1,5 cm deep), to help the heat penetrate the dough evenly.
Bake for about 35 – 45 minutes until golden brown. (If it darkens too much cover with tin foil.) Test by inserting a wooden skewer. When it comes out clean, the bread is ready. When you tap the bottom it should give a hollow sound.
Let the bread rest for at least 10 – 15 minutes and enjoy!
