Very Simple Soda Bread by Paris House

Traditionally baked round, soda bread has a buttery sweetness to it. This recipe is quite special to chef Phil Fanning from the Paris House as it is based on his aunt’s family recipe. He has given it a ‘chefy’ twist yielding a slightly less traditional soda bread, one that is not quite as dense and with a consistency slightly more like a cake than a bread. 

If you fancy a spot of baking with the kids this soda bread is a great place to start. There’s no yeast required and little ones can get involved weighing out the ingredients, rubbing the butter through the flour and watching as the bicarbonate of soda and buttermilk react to create the bubbles which give the bread it’s lift.

Make the soda bread once and we guarantee that you will go back to the recipe again and again.

Kids in the Kitchen

Fun with Butter – Give the kids a chance to rub the butter into the flour. This is great for fine motor skills and keeping their little fingers busy.

Buttermilk bubbles – Here’s a little bit of a science fun for the kids. When a base reacts with an acid, it results in a chemical reaction, producing salt, water and carbon dioxide. You will notice when the bicarbonate of soda is mixed into the batter/buttermilk it will react and cause little carbon dioxide bubbles to form.

Recipe Courtesy of Paris House

Makes: 1 loaf of bread

Difficulty: Easy

Equipment

• Bowl
• Silicone paper/parchment paper
• Tin foil
• 30cm x 11cm x 8cm round bread tin (or similar)
• Cooling rack

Ingredients

• 185g milk
• 25g treacle
• 200g wholemeal flour
• 85g soft flour
• 45g fine oatmeal
• 4g bicarbonate of soda
• 4g salt
• 20g butter
• 150g buttermilk

Cooking Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
2. Gently warm the treacle and 50g of milk and mix well.
3. Mix the flour, oatmeal, salt and bicarbonate of soda together in a medium bowl.
4. Rub the butter into the flour mix.
5. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well until fully incorporated.
6. Fill a silicon paper lined 20cm x 10cm round tin and cover with foil.
7. Bake at 180ºC for 30 mins.
8. Remove the foil and bake for a further 10 – 15 mins, until golden and cooked through.
9. Leave to cool for 10 minutes then remove onto a resting rack to cool.
10. Enjoy!