Kitchenpostcards
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
bread, breakfast, vegetarian, weekend cooking plans, wheat  /  March 16, 2018

Ina Garten’s Irish Soda Bread Modified

by Kanika Samra

This Irish Soda Bread is sweet and savoury – perfect as a crisp toast for breakfast or a snack with tea or coffee.

Read on to find out how I baked my first ever Irish Soda Bread. 

I live in Boston now, the port where Irish immigrants landed in large numbers, of course they also landed elsewhere in America. But Boston has a long history of embracing the Irish during the historic famine of 1845-1849 and as immigrants to the USA. Befittingly and in honour of its Irish heritage Boston hosts a St. Patrick’s Day Parade every March 17th. And predictably so, green clover leaves and Irish foods start appearing in grocery stores.
Every festival is about food, isn’t it?
That is how I got to taste some Irish Soda Bread recently and loved it!Which meant that I had to bake it home. That’s what I did just recently to be ready for a relaxed saturday morning on St. Patty’s Day. We might get some drinks in later in the day, but to start with I will enjoy my morning cup of tea with a slice of Irish Soda Bread.
To bake my loaf I adapted a recipe from Ina Garten.

Total prep time- 1 hour

Active: 10-15 minutes, Baking: 45-50 minutes

Ingredients

3 cups All Purpose Flour (Ina’s recipe uses only all-purpose flour – I mixed it up),
1 cup Whole Wheat Flour,
4 tbsp Sugar,
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder,
1 1/2 tsp Salt (Ina’s recipe called for Kosher salt, I used Sea Salt),
4 tbsp Olive Oil (Ina’s recipe calls for butter),
1 3/4 cups Buttermilk (if not available fresh, make from powdered mix),
1 Egg,
1 tsp Orange Zest (I used a mandarin),
1 cup Black Raisins. (Ina’s recipe calls for Currants)
For baking you’ll need a baking sheet and parchment paper or use a spray oil and additional flour .

Buttermilk Powder
Tools
Kneaded and shaped

Method

Preheat oven to 375 F while you proceed to make the dough.To begin measure all the dry ingredients – flour, salt, baking soda and sugar in one bowl. Mix well. If using a food processor use the paddle attachment or just mix well. Add oil to this and mix again. I prefer using olive oil for cooking and baking but Ina recommends butter. Choose which ever you like. I can assure you that the end result with olive oil was still a great loaf of bread. 🙂
Next, measure buttermilk. I used a sachet of cultured buttermilk powder. It’s easy to find and use. Beat in one egg and orange zest with the buttermilk. I had a mandarin at hand and used it for zest. Ina does not specify which kind of orange to use. I have half a mind to use a lemon next time!
Now comes the tricky part – combining the wet and dry ingredients. Mix until you get a wet and sticky dough. Add a tablespoon of flour to a cup of raisins and then combine with the dough.
Finally, transfer to a well floured surface and gently knead it until you are able to shape it into a round, boule like shape. Cut a shallow X on the top.

Irish Soda Bread boule for baking.
Ready for the oven.

And that’s it, it’s ready to bake. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper. And if like me you are missing parchment paper, oil the baking sheet (I used my cast iron baking plate) and then spread a thin layer of flour. This trick will always come handy while baking.

Transfer the boule to the prepared sheet and bake for 45-50 minutes. 

You will see the loaf rise as it bakes. Just as one would test a cake use a clean knife or skewer and check for doneness by poking until the base close to the center.

Irish Soda Bread
Baked!

Let the loaf cool down and then slice it and enjoy the perfect balance of sweet and savoury. I can’t wait to enjoy a slice with my cuppa tomorrow morning 🙂

Slicing an irish soda bread with raisins.
Irish Soda Bread with Raisins
Irish Soda Bread
2018-06-23 15:27:47
Yields 1
This Irish Soda Bread is sweet and savoury – perfect as a crisp toast for breakfast or a snack with tea or coffee.
Prep Time
14 min
Cook Time
45 min
Total Time
1 hr
Prep Time
14 min
Cook Time
45 min
Total Time
1 hr
Ingredients
  1. 3 cups All Purpose Flour (Ina’s recipe uses only all-purpose flour – I mixed it up),
  2. 1 cup Whole Wheat Flour,
  3. 4 tbsp Sugar,
  4. 1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder,
  5. 1 1/2 tsp Salt (Ina’s recipe called for Kosher salt, I used Sea Salt),
  6. 4 tbsp Olive Oil (Ina’s recipe calls for butter),
  7. 1 3/4 cups Buttermilk (if not available fresh, make from powdered mix),
  8. 1 Egg,
  9. 1 tsp Orange Zest (I used a mandarin),
  10. 1 cup Black Raisins. (Ina’s recipe calls for Currants)
  11. For baking you’ll need a baking sheet and parchment paper or use a spray oil and additional flour .
Add ingredients to shopping list
If you don’t have Buy Me a Pie! app installed you’ll see the list with ingredients right after downloading it
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
  2. Measure all the dry ingredients – flour, salt, baking soda and sugar in one bowl and mix well. Add oil to this and mix again.
  3. Next, measure buttermilk in a separate bowl.
  4. Beat in one egg and orange zest with the buttermilk.
  5. Combine wet and dry ingredients. Mix until you get a wet and sticky dough.
  6. Add a tablespoon of flour to a cup of raisins and then combine with the dough.
  7. Transfer dough to a well floured surface and knead gently until you are able to shape it into a boule.
  8. Cut a shallow X on the top.
  9. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  10. Tranfer loaf to the baking sheet and place on the centre rack in the oven.
  11. Bake for 45-50 minutes.
  12. You will see the loaf rise as it bakes.
  13. Test with a cake tester for doneness.
  14. Let it cool down before slicing.
Notes
  1. I prefer using olive oil for cooking and baking but Ina recommends butter. Choose which ever you like. I can assure you that the end result with olive oil was still a great loaf of bread. 🙂
  2. I had a mandarin at hand and used it for zest. Ina does not specify which kind of orange to use.
  3. If like me you are missing parchment paper, oil the baking sheet (I used my cast iron baking plate) and then spread a thin layer of flour. This trick will always come handy while baking.
Print
By Kanika Samra
Adapted from Ina Garten
Adapted from Ina Garten
Kitchenpostcards https://kitchenpostcards.com/
Please follow and like us:
error
fb-share-icon
Tweet
fb-share-icon
42.3319441-71.0990043

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Tags

  • all purpose flour
  • baking
  • baking powder
  • baking soda
  • currants
  • easy
  • home cooked
  • homemade
  • ina garten
  • irish
  • irish bread
  • raisins
  • recipes
  • simple
  • soda
  • soda bread
  • st patrick's day
  • st. patty's day
  • whole wheat flour

Post navigation

Sweet Potato Chaat & the secrets of Chaat masala!
Of Smoothies and Smoothie bowls

14 comments

  • chef mimi
    March 17, 2018

    I’ve only been to Boston once, and I think there were 3 festivals I encountered while walking the city! What a great place to live. Love your Irish soda bread. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

    Reply
  • KANIKA SAMRA
    March 17, 2018

    Thanks Mimi! Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you too 🙂

    Reply
  • Tea flavourings | Kitchenpostcards
    March 17, 2018

    […] Irish Soda Bread […]

    Reply
  • Best two egg cake | Kitchenpostcards
    March 17, 2018

    […] Ina Garten’s Irish Soda Bread Modified  […]

    Reply
  • FrugalHausfrau
    March 17, 2018

    This looks delish!! I’ve never really spent time in Boston, though I always thought it would be fun! You can never go wrong with an Ina recipe, imho!!
    Molle

    Reply
    • kitchenpostcards
      March 17, 2018

      True! The Barefoot Contessa is very reliable. I swapped out some of the all purpose flour for whole wheat flour and raisins for currants. Might also use more lime juice next time- just because I like the tang!

      Reply
      • FrugalHausfrau
        March 17, 2018

        🙂

        Reply
  • 11 Perfect recipes for those Pasta Cravings! | Kitchenpostcards
    March 29, 2018

    […] Ina Garten’s Irish Soda Bread Modified […]

    Reply
  • Make ahead Oats Idli mix | Kitchenpostcards
    March 29, 2018

    […] Ina Garten’s Irish Soda Bread Modified […]

    Reply
  • 3 herb Pesto with a difference | Kitchenpostcards
    April 22, 2018

    […] Irish Soda Bread  […]

    Reply
  • The Tea Companion: Whole Wheat Biscuits | Kitchenpostcards
    April 23, 2018

    […] Irish Soda Bread […]

    Reply
  • Banana peanut butter Oats mug Cake | Kitchenpostcards
    May 4, 2018

    […] Ina Garten’s Irish Soda Bread Modified […]

    Reply
  • Super-easy scrambled eggs with grilled Asparagus and roasted Tomatoes   | Kitchenpostcards
    May 11, 2018

    […] Ina Garten’s Irish Soda Bread Modified […]

    Reply
  • Greens & Hummus Sandwich | Kitchenpostcards
    May 11, 2018

    […] for this recipe, all you have to do is get some nice bread, I got some multigrain sandwich bread and lots of green veggies to fill in and you’re all […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Karah Prashad – Cooking Together with Kanika & Sakshi

https://youtu.be/fPNaGQPjHGU

Recent Posts

  • Three Ingredient Chicken Curry – weeknight savior!
  • The one thing that made me better at making Homemade Yogurt
  • Pandemic Cooking – comfort in food and getting used to the new normal
  • A humble bowl of Moong Dal Khichdi
  • Salmon Pasta
  • On Migration: Part Three: The Shani Bazar

Archives

Categories

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

  • Cookie Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Elara by LyraThemes
  • © 2021 | Kitchenpostcards – All rights reserved.
Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial
%d bloggers like this:
    This site uses cookies: Find out more.