Three Irish Breads: Soda Farls, Guinness Bread, and Barmbrack
Katie Smith shares recipes for her ideal Irish breadbasket. Words by Katie Smith. Photos by Georgia Rudd.
Good morning, and welcome to Vittles! Today, Katie Smith shares recipes for her ideal Irish bread basket, with fluffy stovetop soda farls, a dark and rich Guinness Bread, and the sweet moist tea bread, Barmbrack. A thick spreading of butter is strongly encouraged for all.
Issue 1 of our magazine is temporarily out of stock while pre-orders are being sent this week. However, we are still selling prints from the issue by illustrator Sing Yun Lee and photographer Michaël Protin, which you can find here.
Soda Farls, Guinness Bread, and Barmbrack
Katie Smith shares recipes for her ideal Irish breadbasket. Words by Katie Smith. Photos by Georgia Rudd.
Growing up in Ireland – a country with a strong bread identity – our lunches at home consisted of fried potato bread stuffed into a sandwich, or thick wedges of wheaten bread. The supermarket loaves we ate for dinner, meanwhile, had to pass my granny’s ‘squish’ test: she would sort through all the breads, pressing each one firmly to see which would be the softest to serve with our cottage pie. And it’s from her that I learned the importance of buttering sliced bread generously, all the way to the edges, covering every crumb.
Most Irish breads don’t have yeast and there’s no sourdough in sight. Forget about kneading and proving to achieve a successful loaf: basic soda bread recipes are quick to make and generally only have three ingredients – flour, buttermilk (my favourite is made by Dale Farm, which is widely available in the UK), and magical bicarbonate of soda. The soda reacts with the acid in the buttermilk to produce a rise in the loaf, while the buttermilk imparts a depth of flavour, which wholegrain flours complement beautifully.
Here I’m sharing a trio of recipes that comprise my ideal Irish breadbasket. First, the soda farl, which is generally eaten as part of an Ulster fry-up alongside eggs, sausages, bacon, black pudding, grilled tomatoes, and potato bread. Not to be mistaken for soda bread, a farl is a flatter variation baked on the hob (it’s extra delicious if you make it in the same pan used to fry the bacon) and is a wonderful introduction to baking bread at home.
Second, a Guinness bread loaf. Rich in flavour, I love it as an accompaniment to a bowl of soup or seafood chowder. And third, on a sweeter note, barmbrack. This dense fruit-filled loaf similar to a fruit cake is traditionally made around Halloween with various items baked into it (a pea, a stick, a ring, a dried bean – almost like an Irish galette des rois), but is delicious all year round and pairs nicely with a sharp cheddar cheese. All three breads are best eaten with a thick layer of butter.