St. Patrick’s Day has long been a favorite holiday of mine and not only because I have Irish roots (my mom was a full blown redhead after all!). Chicago is a great place to visit for this popular Irish holiday. We have so many fabulous authentic Irish pubs, food, two festive parades, and a river that is dyed green every year. Of course, many people in Chicago claim their “Irish Heritage” every March 17th but that’s what makes the day so much fun. Everyone is in the spirit to eat, drink and be merry, the Irish way.
Eating the Irish way on St. Patrick’s Day inevitably means serving some variation of Corned Beef and Cabbage. A wonderful and traditional accompaniment to this dinner is the Irish Soda Bread. The Soda Bread itself has a long history in Ireland, dating back to 1840 when bicarbonate of soda was first introduced to the country. It became especially popular after the Famine Years, since the baking soda replaced the more expensive yeast in bread recipes. Traditional Irish Soda Bread recipes have just four ingredients: flour, baking soda, salt and buttermilk. Other add ons like currants, raisins and caraway seeds were introduced later as a way to give more flavor and variety.
I love the flavor of currants and caraway seeds so I’ve included them in my Dairy Free Irish Soda Bread. Also, since my recipe is dairy free, it uses a buttermilk substitute by simply adding vinegar to soy milk. Many soda bread recipes are shaped into a free form loaf and have an X marked on the top. It is written that the X is meant to ward off evil but a far more common explanation for the X is to give a guideline for cutting slices. Mine is simply put into a round baking pan. What could be simpler?
Enjoy your St. Patrick’s Day, whether you’re Irish or not!
DAIRY FREE IRISH SODA BREAD
Yield: 1 round loaf
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup currants
3/4 teaspoon caraway seeds
11/2 cups dairy-free buttermilk (2 T. vinegar mixed with 2 cups soy milk, let stand 5-10 minutes)
In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt with a wire whisk. Slowly add the buttermilk, and stir with a rubber spatula until just combined. Stir in currants and caraway seeds.
Preheat oven to 350ºF, and spray a 9-inch cake pan with dairy-free baking spray. Place batter into prepared pan, and bake 30 to 40 minutes, or until lightly browned.
This recipe looks great! I am about to make it for my egg allergic daughter’s class for a St. Patty’s Day party tomorrow. Thanks so much!
[...] Url : http://www.foodallergymama.com/2009/03/16/dairy-free-irish-soda-bread/ [...]
Have you found a way to make soda bread gluten free? I am wondering if rice flour would work … maybe I’ll have to try it and let you know?
Hi there! I have not researched a way to make my bread gluten free. But I would recommend that you use whatever gluten free flour blend that works, and try it out cup for cup in my recipe. Let me know how it works for you!
Fantastic! I am sure the kids will love it! Happy St. Patty’s Day!!
Same to you, Kelly! Bread was great success
Question re the soymilk: Was I to combine 2 tablespoons vinegar with 2 cups of soymilk and then measure out 1 1/2 cups of the combined mixture? The amount of vinegar seemed high to me so I did 1 1/2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar with 1 1/2 cups soymilk as I do for vegan cupcakes. The bread was great, but I’d like to make it again following your recipe exactly. Thanks for the clarification. And I love your site! I am a MOCHA mom-perhaps we have met!
Hi Lorraine! So glad you enjoyed the bread! What you did is perfectly fine. I tend to make extra “buttermilk” because I use it in so many other recipes. I also prefere plain ole white vinegar. Thanks so much for your kind words and I am sure we’ve probably met at a MOCHA meeting! I go to the one in Highland Park. Are you going to the FAAN conference in April? Maybe I’ll see you there!
Where do you get currants? Are they dried? Do you think I could use chopped up Craisins instead ?
By the way, is it ok to use expired milk for the milk/vinegar? My mom always used milk that was past its “best by” date (and smelled sour) for her banana bread that calls for baking soda/baking powder and sour milk. Would that work the same way for all your recipes that call for “buttermilk” or should I add a bit of vinegar to it anyway?