I’m not so good with the holiday themed recipes here – the only things I manage to post about with any seasonal timeliness and regularity are Christmas cookies and hot cross buns – so it didn’t even occur to me until a week ago that the Irish soda bread chosen for this month’s Sourdough Surprises coincides with St Patrick’s Day. I know it’s a few days late, but that doesn’t make it any less delicious.
This Irish soda bread contains the traditional ingredients of currants and orange zest, along with a very non-traditional one: sourdough starter. This is a bit of an contradiction for a bread that is leavened with baking soda rather than yeast. Irish wheat is typically quite soft and low in gluten, making it not ideal for yeasted bread, which relies on a network of gluten proteins to trap gases in order to rise. It does, however, make for a great chemically leavened quick bread. An Irish soda bread is sort of like a gigantic scone (count me in!), often containing some percentage of whole wheat flour. I used mostly all purpose flour with a little bit of whole spelt flour to get the nubbly whole grain goodness while mimicking the low-gluten Irish wheat.
Cut into thick wedges and smeared with butter, this Irish soda bread was immensely satisfying with a cup of tea. And it was just as satisfying throughout the week as my mid-morning snack at work – which is to say, this loaf keeps extremely well for several days in an airtight container. It’s dense without being heavy (although the loaf is hefty, to be certain), crumbly without being dry, and it sits right at the junction of sweet and savoury so it could just as easily be eaten with jam as with a slice of cheese (Irish cheddar, perhaps?).
Because the sourdough starter is there primarily for flavour rather than leavening, it’s probably best to use mature or discard starter. I used very young starter and while it made a great loaf of bread, I didn’t get much sourdough flavour at all. That said, if you’re simply looking for a way to use up starter that would otherwise go to waste, this is the perfect application. The best part is that from start to finish, it took about an hour to make and bake. That’s not a lot of time to invest in something as rewarding as a loaf of bread! And if you’re not already convinced of its awesomeness, here’s a fun fact: the X cut into the top of Irish soda bread is to let the fairies out. What other loaf of bread can claim to contain fairies?
Check out the link below for more fairy bread made this month by the Sourdough Surprises bakers.
Sourdough Irish Soda Bread
Adapted from Examiner.com, with some inspiration from Ina Garten. Makes 1 large loaf, about 12 servings.
Preheat the oven to 375˚F. In a large bowl, stir together:
3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole spelt flour (or whole wheat flour)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
Add 1 cup cold, unsalted butter, diced…
…and cut in with a pastry blender until in small bits resembling coarse bread crumbs.
Stir in:
1 cup currants
1 tsp grated orange zest
In another bowl or liquid measuring cup, mix together until dissolved:
1 cup mature or discard sourdough starter
1 cup + 2 tbsp buttermilk (easy substitution: 1 tbsp white vinegar + enough milk to make up the required volume)
Pour the sourdough mixture into the flour mixture…
…and fold with a spatula until it starts to clump together in a shaggy dough.
Turn out onto a floured surface and knead 4 or 5 times, just until it starts to come together, and form it into a round loaf.
Place on a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper and cut an X in the top to let the fairies out. If desired, brush the top of the loaf with a little bit of milk.
Bake in the preheated 375˚F oven for 45-55 minutes until the crust is golden brown, a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean, and the loaf is hollow-sounding when tapped on the bottom. Cool on a rack before cutting into wedges or slices, and serve with butter. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to several days.
That looks incredible, Korena!
Thanks Nick. So simple, but so good!
Looks awesome as usual!! Love that you used orange zest and currants, too!
I would love to try a slice with some jam and cheese!
Your loaf looks temptingly delicious, perfect indeed to accompany a culpa.
What a beautiful loaf, love the speckles of currents throughout.
Really beautiful1
it’s been a while since i made irish soda bread, but you posting this is getting me excited about it again! i used this recipe (from ina garten) http://retrolillies.wordpress.com/2012/12/20/irish-soda-bread/ which was delicious, but i love that yours uses sourdough starter.
I just love how your bread looks! I’m ready to make some more now. Mine didn’t have much of a sourdough flavor either. I’ve seen a few sourdough soda bread recipes where the dough sits overnight in the fridge so maybe that would help. Still delicious even without the sour flavor though!
That looks so good. I love the deep color and the currants peeking through
Gorgeous bread Korena! I love the story about the fairies 🙂
Beautiful loaves and great photos! It makes me want to sit down and enjoy some tea and soda bread. Currants and orange zest sounds wonderful!
Beautiful loaf! I didn’t know the orange zest was traditional but it sounds so good.
It turns out that neither the orange zest, currants, butter, nor sugar in this soda bread are traditional – I learned after publishing that “true” Irish soda bread is just flour, salt, baking soda, and buttermilk! But I have a feeling that my version is tastier 😉
I love Soda bread, but I’d kind of forgotten all about it. I used to make it a lot when my boys were little, cause it’s quick, and I always had the ingredients around. Like the idea of adding orange zest. I think I’ll get back into it and try that. Yours looks beautiful and rustic, just as it should be.
Love your blog ! I have looked at all the other listings and wonder where the one is for Andie’s Sourdough Soda rolls that is pictured on the home page for Sourdough Surprises ? I plan on trying a lot of the recipes as I love using my surplus starter and buttermilk ! Thank you . c
Thanks for the compliment Caroline! I think maybe Andie is not a blogger – if you leave a comment on the Sourdough Surprises blog, they can probably get you in touch with her though.
Thank you…I will try that. c
Would it be wrong to prove the dough for 24 hours? I don’t mean for levening but more for fermenting the whole dough to make it easier for digestion. Would that work? How would I go about doing this?
Hi Sara, sorry for the delayed reply, I hope I’m not too late! This recipe is essentially a quickbread with some sourdough for flavour, and quickbread relies on baking soda for a rise, which starts to happen when wet and dry ingredients are mixed together. So in an overnight fermentation, the baking soda would lose all it’s oomph and you’d be left with a flat, dense, unrisen loaf… however at that point the sourdough started might start to offer some leavening power, but it wouldn’t really be soda bread anymore. I think if you’re wanting to improve digestion, maybe start with sprouted flour? My understanding is that sprouted flour is made from grain that is soaked and then dried before being milled, which essentially does the same thing as fermenting dough to improve digestion. I think, anyway! 😉 I hope that helps.