The author of a popular cookery website has shared a simple recipe for Irish soda bread which uses four basic ingredients still available in supermarkets and costs just $3.20 a loaf - considerably cheaper than buying a batch in store.
Kelly, a health adviser from North Carolina, is the founder of Trial and Eater, a vegetarian food blog which specialises in quick and easy dishes that are straightforward to make without compromising on taste.
Kelly showed bakers how to make delicious soda bread with 480g of plain flour, 350ml of buttermilk, one teaspoon of baking soda and a pinch of salt in less than 10 minutes, before oven baking the dough for 40 minutes until toasted and brown.
Her recipe has been shared by hundreds of Australian amateur cooks who have been baking their own bread, cakes and pastries since the coronavirus pandemic triggered widespread panic buying and forced millions to self-isolate at home.
Soda bread can be prepared in just 10 minutes using plain flour, buttermilk, baking soda and a pinch of salt before it is baked in the oven at 220°C for 40 minutes
What you'll need
350ml buttermilk ($2.75 for 600ml)
480g plain flour ($1.80 for 2kg)
1 tsp baking soda ($1.80 for 500g)
A pinch of salt
Total cost per loaf: $3.20
Source: Trial and Eater
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Before starting the dough, the oven should be preheated to 220°C.
Add the flour, baking soda and salt into a bowl and sift the dry mixture together to remove any lumps.
Using clean hands, make a well in the centre of the mixture and slowly pour in the buttermilk.
While the scarcity of regular milk has skyrocketed since panic buying began earlier this year, buttermilk remains readily available in supermarkets and has a shelf-life of up to two weeks, making it a clever addition to a lockdown shopping list.
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Knead the mixture together with your hands until just combined, taking care not to 'overwork' the dough or handle it for too long which makes it tight and prone to breaking when you stretch it out for baking.
The texture should be soft and crumbly, but still moist enough that it holds together.
Roll the dough into a ball and place it gently onto a baking tray which has been lightly greased with butter or margarine or lined with baking paper.
Using a knife, make a large 'X' across the dough, pressing about an inch deep.
Slide the tray into the oven and bake on 220C for roughly 40 minutes, or until the outside of the loaf is toasted and brown.
How to make bread with BEER
Ingredients:
- 3 cups self raising flour
- Half a cup of white sugar
- One 375ml bottle of beer, or can use soda water
- Optional: Herbs, cheese or bacon
Method:
1. Sift flour into a mixing bowl and stir in sugar
2. Add beer until combined
3. Place in greased tin and bake it the oven for 40 mins at 190C
This homemade bread can be made in 40 minutes using self-raising flour, white sugar and beer
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The recipe has been keeping households fed and entertained across Australia.
One woman said she bakes multiple loaves at once because they are 'devoured' so quickly by her husband and children.
Another shared her own three-ingredient technique, which uses three cups of self-raising flour, half a cup of white sugar and a 375ml bottle of Pilsner beer to make a large loaf of sweet white bread.
How to bake white homemade bread
Ingredients:
- 14g active yeast (approx 3 level tsp or 2 pre-measured sachets)
- 3 tbsp white sugar
- Two 2/3 cups lukewarm water
- 1 heaped tsp salt
- 7 cups of bakers flour (I use ‘Defiance 5kg bakers flour’ from Woolies for $10)
- 3 tbsp margarine/butter (I use ‘1kg Table Spread’ from Woolies for $1.60)
- Optional - 1 heaped tsp of ‘Wallaby’s Bread Improver’ (makes the bread a bit fluffier inside)
Method:
1. Dissolve sugar and yeast in lukewarm water in a large bowl. Stir in softened margarine/butter, salt and 2 cups of the flour.
2. Stir in remaining flour half a cup at a time beating well after each addition.
3. When dough has pulled together, turn it out on a floured surface and knead until elastic for about 8 minutes. It is normal for the dough to be very sticky at first so dip hands in flour and sprinkle flour onto the dough ball as needed.
4. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in bowl and turn and cover in oil. Cover with a damp cloth and allow to rise till almost doubled in size, about 45 minutes.
5. Deflate the dough and turn it out into a light floured surface. Separate the loaves into 3 equal loaf logs.
6. Place the loaves into lightly oiled pans (it should fill the pan about 2/3 of the way up). Cover the pans with a damp cloth until it expand so the pan is full and generously rounded out of the top of pan, about 30 minutes.
7. Preheat the oven to 190°C and bake for 30 minute or until loaf is dark golden on top. The loaf should sound hollow when you tap the bottom of it.
