The delight of soda bread, for those that make it, is how
mindlessly easy and quick it is to knock up.
This morning I lay in bed, feverishly debating whether I had
enough time to have a swim before work. I
then debated many other things, equally feverishly, until I was out of time. Just before jumping in the shower though, despite
the late hour, I knocked up a loaf of bread and put it in the oven. Not really a time-saving feature of any
morning, but it just goes to show that someone with 5 things on their mind (and
an abysmal multi-tasker, at that) can still squeeze in a morning loaf.
Naturally the reason for this speed is the lack of
yeast-faff: the ingredients are merely flour, bicarb, salt + buttermilk. And the method: twirl it around a bit, drop
on a tray, cut a cross-shape and bake.
It really is that easy and unskilled: no waiting, no kneading. I have lost my trusty old recipe so used a
James Martin one – chosen for being half-and-half wholemeal / white. A skirt round the Internet bedazzled me with
the many recipes and I’m going to try a few in turn until I land a new
favourite.
Rachel Allen admonishes that you shouldn’t knead soda bread,
as this renders it ‘heavy’, and who is going to argue with her? But I must admit to enjoying a bit of
kneading, however early it is: when I have exhausted my inevitable forthcoming
pash for making soda loaves, I think I’ll go back to the lovely cold, slow-rise
yeasted bread I used to make as a student.
Made up the night before, it just needs an early-morning fist-fight
(knead) before baking. Yes, that is next
on the cards. But for now I am in the
thrall of the soda.
And the delight of soda bread for those that EAT it, is…
well. Try it and see.
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