Irish buttermilk soda bread for #Breadbakers | Easy Quick breads

It's lovely to be back amongst the #breadbakers group. Having missed out on the previous editions, I was keen to bake bread for this month. St.patricks day bakes and breads is being celebrated this month as a theme , hosted by Wendy and I present this quick to make Irish soda buttermilk bread. Wiki tells me "Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick (Irish: Lá Fhéile Pádraig, "the Day of the Festival of Patrick"), is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (c. AD 385–461), the foremost patron saint of Ireland." 

It uses bicarbonate of soda as a leavening agent and buttermilk is a welcome egg substitute. Altho traditionally shaped as a boule, I made it in a loaf pan and it came out pretty crumby. The only change I would make next time is use a smaller loaf pan so that the height of the loaf is better.

All in all, we loved it as a toast the next morning . I should also learn to wait for the loaf to cool down n get better slices ; guess baking after a really long break took the better of me :)) 

Let's see how to make it. Adapted from here, 

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You would need 

Self raising flour - 170 g

maida / Plain flour - 170 g

Salt - ½ tsp

Soda (aka baking soda) - ½ tsp

around 250 - 270 ml of buttermilk (not too runny or too thick either)

1. Preheat the oven to 400F/200C
2. Tip the flours, salt and bicarbonate of soda into a large mixing bowl and stir.
3. Make a well in the centre and pour in the buttermilk, mixing quickly with a large fork to form a soft dough. (Depending upon the absorbency of the flour, you may need to add a little milk if the dough seems too stiff but it should not be too wet or sticky.) - I used a stand mixer n surprisingly the dough came together very quickly - probably in under 3-4 minutes. 
4. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly.
5. Form into a round and flatten the dough slightly before placing on a lightly floured baking sheet. This is where I turned the dough onto a loaf pan (the 9*5 pan was very large for this quantity so I would use a smaller pan next time) 
6. Cut a cross on the top and bake for about 30-32 minutes ; (I made a few slashes on the top, but guess they weren't deep enough ) or until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Cool on a wire rack.

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#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the #BreadBakers home page.We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send Stacy an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com.

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