Soda Bread at Balleymaloe Cookery School, County Cork.    March 15, 2024

Irish soda bread in the US is oftentimes presented as a quick bread, frequently sweetened and with raisins and caraway seed and baked in a rectangular loaf pan. Soda bread in Ireland (the Republic, not Northern Ireland) tends to be sold as rounded loaves—cakes, they are usually called. Also, it carries imagery of being rural and old-fashioned, with adjectives like “farm-house” attached to the packaging. 

Also, soda bread made from wholewheat (called whole-meal there) is usually called “brown bread” and frequently not even referred to as soda bread. This variety appears more frequently in a loaf form, and slices accompany breakfast or a bowl of soup. They might also be the base for open-face sandwiches. On several occasions, I asked servers in restaurants if the brown slice was soda bread, and they didn’t know. 

Anyway, I have tried making soda bread numerous times on my own and have varying degrees of success. I usually stick to making smaller round loaves. A cross is made on top to help the bread bake all the way through—although some fanciful descriptions say it’s for a blessing or to keep the fairies away. 

The following recipe is a composite of basic traditional ones, and uses American measurements.  

•               Flour (~3 ½ cups). (white or wholemeal)

•               Salt (1/2 -3/4 tsp) 

•               Bicarbonate of Soda (“Baking Soda”) (1 tsp)

•               Buttermilk (~1 ¼-1 ½ cup)

•               Possible traditional additions (egg, butter, sugar, currants, treacle)

      Mix dry ingredients. Make well and add milk. Mix lightly and form into a round. 

Bake in a covered pot (Dutch oven) on a floured baking sheet in oven at 375 degrees F or 200 C or on a floured griddle (flip over half way through cooking).

    In December of 2022 I was delighted to be invited by Irish food scholar Regina Sexton to accompany her on a visit to the Ballymaloe Cookery School in County Cork. We had lunch there and met with some members of the family that had started the restaurant and farm. When I mentioned my interest in sodabread, I was given an impromptu lesson. There were several pointers—use my hands; do not overmix; and round the bottom of the rounded “cake.” These would normally have been passed down in the kitchen, so that formal classes wouldn’t seem necessary. The result was delicious, especially when slathered with butter.  (The photos were taken in the kitchen of the cookery school.)