Sourdough Irish Soda Bread with Spelt

This Sourdough Irish Soda Bread with Spelt, features baking soda, but is primarily leavened with sourdough and includes an overnight ferment.  It represents my not-so-traditional take on soda bread.

Traditional soda bread is made with flour, baking soda, salt, and buttermilk.

I used all of the traditional ingredients in this Irish Soda Bread, but instead of using baking soda as the sole leavening agent, I also added some sourdough starter and gave the dough an overnight ferment to enhance the flavor and texture of the loaf.

Perhaps I am becoming a fan of Irish soda bread

I’ve always liked Ireland and pretty much all things Irish, particularly Irish music, but I must admit, I was never a big fan of soda bread. That is, until I visited Ireland and tasted some soda bread with Guinness Beef Stew. I enjoyed that meal a lot. I’ll be honest, it was the stew that I really enjoyed, but the experience gave me an appreciation for soda bread.

When the Sourdough Surprises Baking Group decided to make sourdough Irish soda bread, I thought, “this is going to be interesting.” We had made sourdough quick breads in a previous challenge so I knew it would work. I just wasn’t sure if I would like it.

I started my experiment with the Irish Soda Bread we made in the Artisan Bread Bakers FB Group a couple of years ago. I actually liked that version as well. Okay so maybe I do like soda bread; however, not all soda bread is equal.

In addition to using sourdough as the leavening agent, I decided to change thinks up even further by substituting all-purpose spelt for the regular all-purpose flour and including some whole grain spelt flour for good measure.

Don’t forget to add the salt

I made two loaves and baked them on different days.

Baking the loaves at different times turned out to be a good thing because I had forgotten to add the salt.

I should have performed a taste test when I mixed the dough to make sure I had added the salt. You’d be surprised how common it is to forget the salt.

In fact, in Lionel Vatinet’s book A Passion for Bread, the third tip is “always taste the dough to be sure salt has been added.” I remember chuckling when I read his quick mixing tips, mainly because I resemble his remarks.

How many times have I gotten distracted and forgotten the salt?  One too many I’m afraid. In fact, the weekend I made this bread, there was a discussion on Facebook about this very thing. Not about leaving out salt per se, but about getting distracted and omitting an ingredient.

It happens to the best of us so I can understand why Lionel Vatinet pays special attention to it. Salt is a very important ingredient. It retards yeast activity, contributes to crust color, and helps flavor the baked bread.

Because I forgot to add the salt, the bread didn’t rise very well and was gooey on the inside. I inserted a skewer into the loaf while it was baking to test for doneness and noticed it wasn’t done. I let it continue baking until it was baked through.

When I took it out of the oven, it smelled really good (due to the sourdough) so I had to try it right away. I was so disappointed. It tasted blah. I kept thinking and thinking but I couldn’t remember if I added the salt. Most likely because I didn’t.

Fortunately, I was able to fix the problem for the second loaf. I tasted the dough this time and it was salt less. So I added the salt on top of the dough and a little extra water and kneaded it until the dough wasn’t grainy anymore.

I tasted the dough again and this time, it tasted just fine. I baked the loaf and it turned out great. It doesn’t taste like your average soda bread which is okay by me.

Sourdough Irish Soda Bread with Spelt

Adapted from Jeff Smith, aka The Frugal Gourmet

Makes: 2 Round Loaves

Ingredients:

• 2 cups sourdough starter, recently fed
• 3 1/2 cups all purpose white spelt flour
• 1 cup wholegrain spelt flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk

Day 1: Make the Dough/Ferment Overnight

Place the sourdough starter in a large bowl. Add the dry ingredients (don’t forget the salt) and mix thoroughly. Pour in the buttermilk and stir, using a wooden spoon, just till a soft dough is formed.

Transfer the contents of the bowl onto a lightly floured counter and knead for a minute or so till everything comes together.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to ferment overnight.

Day 2: Bake the Loaf

The next day when you’re ready to bake,

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Divide the dough into two portions and shape each into a round loaf, pressing the top down a bit to just barely flatten it. Place the loaves on a large ungreased baking sheet or in a round baker. I used a ceramic baking dish. The first loaf stuck to the dish so I lined it with parchment paper for the second loaf.

Sprinkle the top of the loaf with additional flour. Using a sharp knife, or a bread lame, make the sign of a cross in slashes on the top of the loaf.

Allow the loaves to rest for 10 minutes and then bake on the middle rack for 40 minutes or until the loaves are golden brown and done to taste.

Remove the bread from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack before slicing or serving.

Soda breads generally don’t have very good keeping quality so you need to enjoy them right away. Adding sourdough to the bread extends the shelf life.  This version lasted for several days before going stale.

Happy Baking!

Cathy