Finally! The Great Soda Bread Competition Results Are In

Last minute controversy concerning to toast or not to toast leads to interesting results.

The judges—Sam and Al (sons), Brynne and Sandy (their partners), and their father—received all their entries on Sunday. Sam and Al brought extensive experience and knowledge—they have been eating my mom’s soda bread their whole life. Brynne, too, has always eaten soda bread. She would serve as a check on my sons if they were unduly influenced by their family’s recipe. Sandy never really ate soda bread until she met Sam. My husband was a judge by default—he was eating each entry right after it came out of the oven.

The base recipe used was my mom’s. The one exception was the bread from The Irish Bakery. It’s only substantial difference was in its baking method. (\See recipe below.).

A score card listed each type of soda bread only by a number:

1. Gluten free made with Bob's Old Red Mill bean-based flour

2. Original Mom recipe she always made from her mom’s recipe

3. Mom's recipe that became slightly mangled in translation when my sister dictated it to me over the phone. I made it several times over the years before realizing it wasn’t the original because it added butter to the ingredients and omitted sugar. (See previous story for full explanation.)

4. The Irish Bakery recipe is the closest recipe to Mom's

5: Gluten free made from King Arthur 1-1 flour

Simple instructions for testing: cut sizable piece and slater with butter. Rate each version for taste and texture.

A pertinent question was raised straight away:

Al: Should I be toasting and adding butter prior to trying them?

(Toasting? Never toasted soda bread in my life!)

Brynne: That’s how I always had it growing up.

Sam: Yup it makes it better especially with melted butter.

This bizarre discovery prompted a consultation with my brother and sister:

Brother: What do they know!

Sister: Toasted [only] when not fresh.

Me back to judges: Toasting is optional, though there’s one that’s clearly better toasted.

Sam: Ah, okay, I’ll remain consistent since that’s how I usually eat it.

His text’s accompanying Gifs

Caving in to my own children I allowed them to toast.

Yesterday the results poured in:

My husband and I were probably influenced by eating each sample the day it was baked. Given the baking complexity and equal complexity of the judges’ lives, their samples were at least a day old:

1. Bob's Old Red Mill flour made of beans had a strident beany aftertaste but the texture was ok--it held together. Toasting did make it taste better. My husband said, "it's okay if it's the last soda bread on earth."

2. Mom's original recipe using regular wheat flour was perfect. You could almost imagine youself sitting in the parlor late in the afternoon after a hard day with a slice of bread all covered with Kerry butter, served with a nice hot cup of tea beside it.

3. The variation of mom’s recipe was cake-like, the crust less chewy. The absence of sugar caused the baking soda and powder to be more pronounced. It was eatable but not wholly satisfying.

4. The Irish Bakery's bread was made three times because I kept getting really bad results. Reasons included ignoring instructions to sift the dry ingredients, stirring too long, and adding too much water. I probably dusted too much flour on the cookie sheet it was baked on (all other breads required a skillet), and, as the directions called for, on top of the dough before baking. The cookie sheet allowed the dough to spread out, making for a denser bread. The fourth—and final—one was as close to the book’s photo, but it was very floury and I agreed with the judges that it was more like a bread. To be fair, the book’s author, Cherie Denham, identifies the recipe as bread and recommends toasting it. I probably should make it a fifth time to get it up to Denham’s standards.

5. King Arthur's 1-1 gluten free dough was a winner. The flour is made with nuts, which contributes a very nice flavor throughout.

Summary and thoughts:

Stay away from a bean-based gluten free flour when using it for bread and dessert baking. It will make your stomach happy but there will be an aftertaste—unless it’s toasted.

Mom’s recipe—even the flawed dictated one—continues to be the best ever! (Thank you Mom and grandmom!!)

A better baker than me would get The Irish Bakery recipe just right the first time. The recipe is below.

The weird thing about all this —and the reason why I have tried readers’ patience by spending so much time on the soda bread question—was my stomach didn’t care whether the breads were baked with wheat or gluten free flours. It was very happy with both. I’m going to attribute this to a built-up immunity after life-long exposure to this recipe’s use of plain old, wheat based flour. However, the stomach continues to be annoyed by everything else that is not gluten free. A very disheartening outcome, indeed.

And with that, I promise this is the last story you’ll ever read about soda bread in America Eats!

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Cherie Denham’s The Irish Bakery White Soda Bread

3 1/4 cups plain (all-purpose) flour, plus extra flour for dusting
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Place a baking sheet onto the top shelf of the oven to get nice and hot.

Sift the flour, salt, and baking soda into a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour.

Pour in the buttermilk, gently mixing everything together with a spatula or large round-edged table knife. Stir in scant 1/4 cup water until you have a soft dough. The dough should not be too dry but not too sticky. Add 1-2 more tablespoons if it feels dry.

Remove the baking sheet from the oven and dust it liberally with flour. Turn the dough out onto the baking sheet. Pat it into a round shape about 6 inches wide. Press a deep cross onto the top of the loaf with a floured wooden spoon or knife and prick each quarter of the dough (this supposedly 'lets the fairies out,' otherwise they will jinx your bread). Dust the top with some flour.

Turn the oven down to 425 degrees and bake on the top shelf for 30-35 minutes until lightly browned and hollow-sounding when tapped on the bottom.

Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Note from Denham in the recipe preface:
Soda bread is best eaten on the day it's made, but its life can be extended by toasting.

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A final bit of knowledge Sam texted me about the benefits of toasting:

There is a science behind it. Essentially you are cooking the sugar inside of the food, same with meat and vegetables, it changes the flavor profiles of the food.

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