Baking with Carla: mini Irish Soda Breads

I have been meaning to make bread with Carla for a long time. Why haven’t I? Well, my biggest constraint with Carla, as you know, is time. How can I possibly make bread in an hour? Aside from the whole kneading process, which is too hard and time consuming for a six-year old, bread takes time because of the rise.

However, I was still not ready to give up the idea of making some sort of bread. Then looking at my wish-to-bake-soon list I realized that high on top of it I had written Irish soda bread. I also had a link to a post written some time ago by Trish at Dish by Trish, who made these adorable mini Irish soda breads. Genial! Making small breads instead of a single loaf definitely cuts the baking time, hence making the recipe doable with Carla. Thanks Trish!

I did not have a recipe that was for sure traditional so I did some research on the web. Before leaving you with the recipe, I would like to suggest you check out this link if you will ever decide to make Irish soda bread yourself. There are many recipes around, each a little bit different, but this site really clarifies all the basics you need to know about the traditional Irish soda bread. It really is an easy recipe and the traditional one has 4 ingredients! Yes, you can maybe add raisins or other fun stuff but I followed the website suggestion of first mastering the basic recipe before experimenting with it. If anybody (Irish or not) has a family recipe for Irish soda bread, I would love to hear from you! I’m looking forward to make this bread again and to try different versions of the recipe.

For the moment, I trusted this one. We loved this bread. It was really easy to make for Carla. No kneading, no waiting time, no hard dough to shape. And perfect for tonight dinner.

Irish Soda Breads

Ingredients

Yields 5-6 small breads

450 g (1 lb or 3 1/2 cups) flour (either cake flour or all-purpose)

5 g (1 tsp) sugar (optional)

5 g (1 tsp) salt

5 g (1 tsp) baking soda

200-300 ml (8-10 fl oz) buttermilk

Method

Preheat the oven to 450F degrees and prepare a baking sheet by dusting it lightly with some flour.

Sift the dry ingredients together at least once or twice to make sure the baking soda is evenly distributed. Put the sifted dry ingredients in a big bowl and make a well in the center.

Pour about three-quarters of the buttermilk and start stirring. The dough will be soft but lumpy. Add more liquid if needed.

Blend quickly being careful not to mix too energetically or the breads will result too hard.

Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead very very briefly (the website suggests about half minute and adds that even 15 seconds could be sufficient. Also, we actually just kneaded the dough in the bowl…less messy with a kid).

Divide the dough into 5-6 balls and place them on the prepared baking sheet, flattening the tops. With a sharp knife, cut a cross across the top of each circle of dough. The cut should go halfway down through the sides of the circles.

Bake at 450F degrees for the first 10 minutes. Afterwards, lower the oven temperature to 400F degrees and bake for another 10-15 minutes.

Let the breads cool on a cooling rack before serving them.

Have a sweet day!

Source: European Cuisines