If you were born and raised in Ireland, soda bread is likely what you grew up eating at nearly every meal. It's served first thing in the morning as part of a full Irish breakfast, with tea in the afternoon, and alongside beef or lamb stew or any number of other Irish specialties at dinner. If you're less familiar with soda bread, we're here to explain this easy bread in both its traditional Irish form and the sweeter version enjoyed stateside.
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What Is Irish Soda Bread?
Irish soda bread is prepared without yeast. Traditionally it has just four ingredients: flour, baking soda, salt, and buttermilk. The baking soda and buttermilk react to cause the dough to rise.
In Ireland, soda bread is often made from stone-ground whole-wheat flour, though white flour versions are available. Stateside, we generally enjoy white soda bread made with all-purpose white flour. In both countries, soda bread is generally shaped into a round. The last step in making any loaf of soda bread is to cut a cross in the top of the dome of dough. According to Irish legend, this is to "let the devil out," but the technique actually serves a practical purpose: The deep slash allows the dough to cook evenly from crust to inner crumb, creating the velvety texture we all adore.
If you're new to bread making, Irish soda bread is a great place to start. It's among the easiest, most forgiving home-baked goods, and it's one of the quickest breads to go from mixing bowl to table. Since there's no yeast involved, it's nearly impossible to mess it up. In fact, the less you handle the dough, the better. As Darina Allen, the grande dame of Irish cooking and author of multiple books on the subject says, when it came to traditional soda bread, "it was a compliment of the highest order to be described as having 'a light hand.'"
A Little History
Like so many traditional foods, Irish soda bread came about as a way for cooks to use what they had. "From earliest times, breadmaking was an integral part of daily life in almost every home…even in the poorest country cabin, fresh soda bread would have been mixed on a wooden baking board and baked on the griddle, or…over the ember of the turf fire," says Allen.
Those loaves featured Irish wheat and buttermilk—either the by-product of butter making, or in the days before refrigeration, sour milk that needed to be used up. The lactic acid in the buttermilk reacts with the alkali baking soda to create carbon dioxide, which in turn causes the bread to rise. Baking soda was introduced to Ireland (where it's known as bread soda) in the 1830s. Since then, it's been a staple in Irish home (and restaurant) kitchens.
Sweeter Soda Bread
On this side of the Atlantic, what we call "Irish soda bread" is more rich and sweet, usually studded with raisins and caraway seeds. These cakey, scone-like loaves often include eggs and butter for tenderness and more flavor. It's nearly impossible to find an accurate date when this became known as the definitive soda bread in the United States. Nevertheless, it's been on the menu in Irish restaurants and bars on St. Patrick's Day and sold in bakeries throughout Irish-American strongholds all year long for as long as anyone can remember. Though its overall shape and structure derive from those early Irish loaves, it bears more of a resemblance to a sweeter Irish bread known as Spotted Dog (or Spotted Dick, not to be mistaken for the British steamed pudding of the same name). To further confuse matters, when Spotted Dog is baked in a loaf pan, it's known as Railway Cake.
Should We Call It Irish-American Soda Bread?
As for the name, the easiest way to clear up the confusion may be to simply refer to the raisin- and caraway-studded version as Irish American Soda Bread, as it's called in the Joy of Cooking. In that most American of American cookbooks, the bread is aptly described as "richer, sweeter and more cake-like than authentic Irish soda bread, which we are assured never made the acquaintance of a raisin or caraway seed either."
How to Eat Irish Soda Bread
This versatile bread works for any meal, but Irish soda bread is a natural for breakfast, whether simply spread with (Irish) butter and jam or alongside that hearty fry-up known as a full Irish breakfast. It's also wonderful with a cup of tea in the afternoon or as a late-night snack. Irish soda bread made without sweeteners or raisins is a natural pairing with smoked salmon or smoked trout, strong cheeses like aged cheddar or the Irish Cashel blue, and as an accompaniment to bowls of hearty soup.
Enjoy It Fast
Homemade Irish soda bread is a treat, but it's a treat that is best eaten on the day that it's baked. It doesn't keep nearly as well as yeast-risen breads. As long as you have enough good-quality butter and some nice fruit jam, that shouldn't be a problem.
