Irish Breads

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Why do all these recipes use cake flour?

Because they are based on Irish recipes, and Ireland only grows soft wheat. Flour in the US generally comes from hard wheat which produces a hard flour, like all-purpose and bread flour. Because of their high gluten content, doughs made from them are elastic and tough enough to hold a baked shape. However, US cake flour comes from soft winter wheat. It has about half the gluten of regular US flour so it is called soft flour, and doughs made from it have a fine, slightly crumbly texture. All flour in Europe resembles US cake flour because Europe grows only soft winter wheat. Now you know why translating a European recipe in the US has this unexpected pitfall – the flour!

History

Stone Age flatbread is the earliest record of bread in Ireland. While there was always home baking, it was also a trade, bakers traveling where needed. 1478 saw the first Charter for a Bakers Guild, only a few hundred years after the bread was introduced to Ireland in the 1100s by the Anglo-Normans. While potatoes were the Irish diet staple, the 1845 potato blight that lasted to 1852 killed the crops. Then bread became their staple, and home baking took off like a rocket, resulting in many types of bread. It seems the high popularity of soda bread dates from this time. It is quick (no rising time needed), easy to make each morning, and while we know it as Irish Soda Bread, it was actually created by Native Americans, the first to be documented using a natural form of soda (pearl ash). Soda Bread became Irish in the 1830s when baking soda was first introduced to the country. And just in time; the famine caused by potato blight meant bread was needed and had to be made from the most inexpensive and basic ingredient -- flour, salt, baking soda & sour milk (these last two cause this bread to rise).

Irish Soda Bread

Ingredients

• 1 cup cake flour    + ½ cup

• ½ teaspoonful baking soda

• ½ cup sour milk/buttermilk

• Pinch of salt

Method

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Butter a baking sheet.

3. Sift all dry ingredients in a bowl.

4. Mix in the buttermilk to make a soft dough. If it’s too wet/sticky add more flour.

5. On a floured surface knead the dough for about a minute then pat into a high round.

6. Make a deep cross on the top with a very sharp knife.

7. Bake on the baking sheet for about 40 minutes or until it is golden brown and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped.

Notes

• Wholegrain flour makes this Wheaten bread, AKA Brown Soda Bread….often served with smoked salmon.

• Add ½ cup raisins + 1 egg at step 4 for Fruit Soda Bread, or Spotted Dog, popular in Lent for St. Patrick’s Day.

Farls
From Gaelic ‘fardel’ or ‘four parts’

Ingredients

• 1 cup cake flour    + ½ cup

• ½ teaspoonful baking soda

• ½ cup sour milk/buttermilk

• Pinch of salt

• Oil/butter to grease pan

Method

1. Sift dry ingredients into a bowl.

2. Mix in the buttermilk to make a soft dough. If it’s too wet/sticky add more flour.

3. On a floured surface knead the dough for about a minute then flatten into a circle ½ inch thick.

4. Cut into quarters, the 4 parts!

5. Grease a large frying pan, put it on medium heat.

6. Cook each side of the farls for 5-6 minutes, they should be nicely browned.

7. Flip farls and cook the other side.

 Notes

• Potato Farls can be baked stove-top on a hot griddle, or in an oven on a baking sheet. Use a cast-iron skillet in the oven and Lo and Behold! Irish skillet bread)

• Add creamed spinach for a green St. Patrick’s Day version or creamed shredded carrots for an orange one!

Boxty or Irish Potato Bread

Traditional Irish potato pancakes. Ratios of potato & flour vary in many recipes!

Ingredients

• 1 cup cake flour + ½ cup

• ½ teaspoonful baking soda

• ½ cup sour milk/buttermilk

• Pinch of salt

• 1 cup mashed potato

Method

1. Sift dry ingredients into a bowl.

2. Add the potato and buttermilk.

3. Mix well to make a thick batter. With dryish potato, you may need more buttermilk; if it was wetter add more flour.

4. Grease a large frying pan, put it on medium-high heat.

5. On a floured surface make the boxty in pancake-size shapes.

6. Fry till golden brown, flip, fry the other side.

Notes

• Back in the day, soda breads were cooked in iron pots or griddles in open hearths, thus the famous hard crust, dense texture, and slightly sour tang.

Banana Bread

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Ingredients

• 4 oz./1 stick butter (can be substituted for ½ cup mayonnaise)

• 4 large ripe bananas

• 2 large eggs

• 2 ½ cups unbleached flour

• 1 cup granulated sugar (can be substituted for 1 cup soft brown sugar or ½ cup honey)

• ½ cup buttermilk (can be substituted 1/3 cup sour cream / plain or full-fat Greek yogurt)

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Optional Ingredients

• ½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans

• 1 teaspoonful cinnamon / nutmeg / allspice / cardamom /vanilla

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. If your loaf pan is not non-stick, grease/butter it, then coat it with flour.

3. Use a whisk to mash the bananas in a bowl to a creamy consistency.

4. In a large bowl, cream the butter/mayo with the sugar

5. Gently mix in the mashed bananas, the yogurt/sour cream/buttermilk, and any nuts and spices.

6. Fold the flour and baking soda into the banana mix with a large spatula, so that all ingredients are well combined but not beaten.

7. If your batter is more runny than soft, gently stir in more flour; about ¼ cup flour should be good.

8. Pour the soft batter into the prepared loaf pan

9. Bake for 50 minutes, or until it passes the toothpick test.

10. The finished loaf should be slightly separate from the edges of the pan, medium to dark brown, risen in the center, and sound hollow when you tap it on the bottom. It can be frozen. 

Fun Facts

• January 21st is National Banana Bread Day in the US.

• Banana bread has been a favorite since the Depression when overripe bananas were cheap.

• Yes, indeed, those black-streaked yellow skins make the best banana bread.

• In the 1930s corporate kitchens promoted the use of baking soda and baking powder. Bread can be made quickly with these leaveners, so banana bread is one of many “quick breads.”

• America discovered pearlash (potassium carbonate) which, with water or an acid liquid, makes the gas carbon dioxide, which makes baked goods rise. They exported thousands of tons to Europe. Today, we use baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) and not pearlash, and, more generally, baking powder, since its discovery in 1857.

• Americans eat about 30 lbs. banana each per year.

• Banana bread recipes can all be used to make muffins

• Slices of banana bread make fantastic French toast.

• Breads are dense, cakes are light; banana bread is dense and for that reason, it is not called cake. 

Grandma's Scottish Shortbread

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Shortbread is traditionally formed into one of three shapes: one large circle divided into segments (“Petticoat Tails”); individual round biscuits (“Shortbread Rounds”); or a thick rectangular slab cut into “fingers.” Different recipes and regional variations for shortbread show all sorts of additions. But a classic shortbread has flour, fat, and sugar (3:2:1). The following true classic was passed down from my grandma. Her secrets were rice flour and kneading. Yes, nearly everyone tells you to handle shortbread dough carefully – well, our Gran kneaded the dough for at least 5 minutes, often more, because she wanted it melt-in-the-mouth smooth!

Notes

• This recipe uses unbleached flour. Using bleached flour can result in a bitter taste.

• Caster sugar is very fine and hard to find. Just put your white granulated sugar in a blender and whizz till it is fine. Do not substitute icing/confectioner’s/powdered sugar.

• Butter must be soft; leave it out overnight for use the next day. Do not microwave to soften.

• Kneading – the best way to keep the dough ball compact while kneading is to press with the heels of your hands(the rounded bit of your palm near your wrist) and push the dough away from you. Then fold the part furthest away back on top, turn the dough ball to the right, and repeat the push, fold back and turn. Keep kneading the dough in this quarter-circle turn.

• Oven temperatures vary, they can be 50 degrees higher or lower than what the oven number shows, which can make baking a hit or miss affair. Not for cooking shortbread – it goes back till it is perfect!

Ingredients

• 6 oz. plain unbleached flour

• 2 oz. caster sugar / 2 oz. white granulated sugar blended till very fine

• 2 oz. rice flour

• 5 oz. salted extra creamy butter

Method

1. Preheat oven to 275°Fahrenheit.

2. Cream sugar and butter together until very pale.

3. Add half the flour and mix well to form a dough ball.

4. Sprinkle remaining flour onto the clean countertop.

5. Put the dough ball on flour and knead well for 5 to 7 minutes.

6. If all the flour has been absorbed and the dough is still very sticky and leaving bits on the counter, add more flour, ¼ cup at a time. Continue to knead till the dough is a smooth ball, very slightly sticky.

7. Shape

   1. Petticoat Tails: Roll dough into a circle and center it on a baking sheet/pat dough into a pie pan. For thin Petticoat Tails, it should be about ¼ inch thick, for regular triangles about ½ inch thick. With the dough on a baking sheet, you can flute the edges, or press any pattern round the edge. You can also carefully cut it into triangles now if desired. A thick dough needs to be pricked with a fork to help keep its shape. A thin dough doesn’t need it but shortbread traditionally was pricked so feel free to do what you wish!

   2. Biscuits: Roll dough flat, about ¼ inch thick. Use any shape cutter (stars, trees for Christmas, rabbit, egg for Easter, etc.) then pile the scraps on top of each other, roll out again, and cut. Repeat till the dough is used up. The dough is cohesive enough to pick up carefully if shapes do not come up with your cutter, however, a flat spatula is a great help here! Again, this thin dough need not be pricked, but if serving plain, they do look prettier. If you plan to decorate, do not prick, the holes make the icing look rough.

   3. Fingers: Roll dough into an oblong shape about ½ inch thick/pat dough into an oblong baking pan. Continue as for Petticoat Tails above.

8. Bake thin shortbread for about 30 minutes. Bake thick shortbread for about 45 minutes. It should be a pale golden color, feel firm when touched, and the sharp cut edges of biscuits are now attractively rounded. If your thick shortbread looks a slightly different color inside, and/or has a slightly different texture, put it back in the oven for 10-20 minutes at least.

Wassail

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WASSAIL FROM OLDE ENGLAND

The following recipe for wassail is adapted from Food in England by Dorothy Squires in the 1700s.

Ingredients

• 1 lb. of soft brown sugar

• 4 pints of ale

• 1 whole nutmeg grated (1 Tablespoonful of freshly grated or 3 Tablespoonsful of ground)

• 1/3 cup of crystallized ginger pieces

• 1 ½ pints sherry

• 3 pints dark beer

• 8 small tart apples, like Cox’s orange pippins (any pippin will do)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

2. Place the apples on a baking sheet and roast for 15-20 minutes. The skins should look as though they are starting to burst.

3. Grate the nutmeg in a nutmeg/spice/microplane grater (blenders don’t work well).

4. Chop the ginger into small pieces, or whizz it in a blender with some of the ale

5. Add all the liquids to a large pot with the sugar and spices.

6. Stir to make sure the sugar is melting and not caramelizing on the pot bottom.

7. When it is simmering, before it starts to boil, add the roasted apples, and serve.

 Note: Apart from adapting her recipe, we left out the steps where Dorothy added toast covered with yeast and bottled her wassail to ferment it. Novices will end up with a huge exploded bottles clean-up!

CYDER WASSAIL

This is adapted from an old Suffolk recipe.

Ingredients

• 6 teaspoons soft brown sugar

• 1 orange cut in half   

• 6 cloves

• 2 liters cider

• 200g caster sugar

• 300mls port

• 2 cinnamon sticks

• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

• 300mls sherry/Madeira

• 1 lemon, halved

Method

1. In a large pot, heat all the ingredients until it reaches boiling point

2. Serve, or lower heat to slow simmer until ready to serve.

Christmas Pudding

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The Martha pudding recipe is a heritage recipe – it was given to us by the great-great-granddaughter (possibly one more great!) of one of the first pioneers who still makes it for Christmas and other special occasions. The Martha Pudding recipe is the original. As with all very old recipes, it assumes you know how to cook! We have kept the recipe the same but put it into modern cookbook format and style. Enjoy!

PUDDING

Ingredients

• 1 cup grated carrot

• 1 cup grated potato

• 1 cup raisins

• 1 cup brown sugar

• 1 ¼ cups flour

• 1/2 cup butter

• 1 t cinnamon

• Mix and steam 3 hours

• ½ t cloves

• ½ t nutmeg

• 1 tablespoonful baking soda stirred into potato

Method

1. Butter a 5 cup pudding steamer and lid

2. Half fill a large pan with water and set to boil over medium heat.

3. Cream the butter and brown sugar until pale

4. In another bowl, add the grated potato, add the baking soda and mix well

5. Add all the other ingredients except the flour to the potato and mix well.

6. Add I cup of flour to the carrot/potato mix, and mix well so everything is well-coated with flour, to avoid lumps.

7. Combine the dry ingredients and the creamed butter mix

8. Add the pudding mix to the pudding steamer and close the lid firmly.

9. Put the pudding steamer in the pot of boiling water, make sure the water comes up at least halfway, cover it with the lid, and steam for 3 hours.

10. .Turn out onto a serving dish and pour over sauce, or serve the sauce on the side in a sauceboat.

SAUCE

Ingredients

• 1 cup Brown sugar

• 2 T cornstarch

• 4 T butter

• 2 cups boiling water

• Flavor with vanilla

Method

1. Add 2 spoons of water to the cornstarch and mix well.

2. Melt the butter and sugar in a pot and when boiling, add the cornstarch mix and stir well until it thickens and turns almost clear.

3. Add vanilla to taste.

NOTES

• A pudding steamer is basically a metal bowl with a tight-fitting lid. You can substitute any Pyrex or similar bowl, cover the pudding with a buttered circle of foil, and tie a cloth over the top tightly.

• A grate to support the steamer helps avoid burning the bottom; you can substitute a large cookie cutter

• A handy kettle of boiling water helps to fill up your pot of boiling water if the water level goes below the halfway mark too fast.

Pumpkin Soup

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Adapted from various sources. Serves 8. This recipe calls for 4 cups pumpkin puree; you get 1 cup puree from 1 ½ lb raw pumpkin

Ingredients

• 4 cups pumpkin puree

• 5 cups water + chicken bouillon (2 cubes/1 Tablespoonful) OR canned chicken stock

• ½ teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

• 1 clove garlic, minced

• 5 whole black peppercorns

• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

• ½ cup heavy whipping cream, for garnish

Method

1. First, get the Pumpkin. A bright orange is best, with no spots. Then choose how to puree it.

   1. Cut up a large fresh pumpkin into approximately 2-inch cubes. Peel 1 large onion and cut it in half. Put pumpkin and onion in a pan and cover with water. Boil till soft (about 15 to 20 minutes). Drain well. Puree. OR

   2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (F). Peel 1 large onion and cut it in half. Cut your pumpkin in half, remove seeds, place cut side down on roasting pan. Add onion and roast until the pumpkin is soft when tested (about 30 to 40 minutes). Scoop out the flesh from the skin with a metal spoon. Puree roast onion and pumpkin. OR

   3. Buy a can of pumpkin puree. Just make sure it is not for pie filling.

2. Add all ingredients to a large pot, bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes.

3. Stir in heavy cream, pour into soup bowls.

4. Garnish and serve.

Notes

You can use coconut milk in place of all, or half, of the water. Garnish options include toasted sesame seeds, grated fresh nutmeg, or sun-dried tomatoes in oil pureed with some cayenne pepper. Spice/herb options include rosemary, cloves, cardamom, and coriander; the last two go especially well if you use coconut milk. This recipe works well for any firm squash – Hubbard, butternut, etc.

Seed Cake

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Seed cake is considered a traditional British cake flavoured with caraway. Recipes are found in cookbooks of the 1500s, and Mrs. Beeton’s door-stopper Book of Household Management has four recipes for seed cake. The following recipe has been adapted from historical recipes.

 Ingredients

• 1 lb./2 cups/4 sticks butter

• 3 ½ cups flour

• 1 ¾ cups caster sugar

• 1 oz./2 tablespoons caraway seeds

• 6 eggs, whisked well 

• ¾ cup brandy/Madeira wine

• Ground mace, grated nutmeg, to taste (try 1/4 teaspoon of each)

• 1/4 cup/2 oz. chopped candied citrus peel (optional)

Equipment

• 8-9 inch round straight-sided baking tin

• Greaseproof paper

• Very large mixing bowl

• Electric whisk

• Sieve

• Spatula or large spoon

• Wire rack

Method

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (F).

2. Line the baking tin with greaseproof paper and butter it well.

3. In the large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until white and fluffy.

4. Sift the flour into another large bowl.

5. Whisk in the mace, nutmeg, and caraway seeds.

6. If you want to add the chopped candied peel, first pre-mix it well with a fork. Use about ¼ cup of the flour to make sure each bit of peel is coated and does not cause clumps in the cake. Then add peel to flour & seed mix.

7. Stir the whisked eggs and brandy into the butter & sugar mix. If it separates, whisk in a spoonful of flour.

8. Using the spatula/large spoon, gently fold in the sifted flour mix.

9. Pour the mixture into the prepared buttered-paper lined tin, and gently smooth the top.

10. Bake it for 1½ to 2 hours or when the cake is well risen, firm, golden brown, and a skewer comes out clean when tested.

11. Cool on a wire rack.

12. Store in an airtight container.

13. Serve in thin slices for elevenses, or at tea time, or as an after-supper morsel.

Singin' Hinnies

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What a delightful name this little griddlecake has. The hinny mixture resembles a scone mixture, and, as with scones, need handling the same way so the mixture does not become tough. These may be griddled cakes, but should still be light and crumbly. You can see how to keep them light in the notes at the end of the recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 pound (or 450 grams) all-purpose flour

• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt

• 4 ounces (or 110 grams) butter (very cold)

• 4 ounces (or 110 grams) lard (very cold)

• 1 tablespoon lemon zest

• 6 1/2 ounces (or 185 grams) dried fruit (currants, sultanas, and raisins)

• 4 to 5 tablespoons milk

• Optional: butter, granulated sugar

Equipment

• Flat griddle pan or a large heavy-bottomed frying pan.

• Metal spatula

• 6 cm / 2 in. cutter

Method

1. Put the griddle/frying pan on medium heat on the large burner

2. Into a large roomy baking bowl, sieve the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt.

3. Cut the cold butter and lard into small pieces, add to the baking bowl and rub together with the flour until it resembles rough sand.

4. Stir in the lemon zest and the mixed fruit.

5. Once thoroughly mixed gradually add milk, a little at a time, until the dough comes together and is soft and pliable.

6. Dust a board or work surface with a little flour, and roll out the dough to around 5 mm (a little less than1/4-inch) using the 6 cm / 2 in. cutter.

7. Using a little paper towel smeared with lard, grease the hot pan lightly.

8. Cook the hinnies, a few at a time, for approximately 5 minutes on each side until golden brown.

9. Serve warm with a good smearing of butter, or simply sprinkle with a little sugar.

Tips

• Make sure the equipment and ingredients used for making the hinnies are all as cool as possible, including your hands. The butter should be very cold - but not frozen. Warm hands, ingredients, and equipment if too warm will melt the butter; it then can’t be rubbed in properly, resulting in dense scones.

• Work quickly, and lightly. Avoid over rubbing or kneading the mixture; it does not need to be super-smooth, simply needs to be pulled together in a light, pliable dough.

• When cutting the hinnies using a tart cutter, avoid twisting the cutter. Just press down then gently shake the hinny onto the prepared tray. If cutting with a knife, make sure it is sharp. Blunt knives or twisting the tart cutter tears at the edges of the hinny and stops any rise when cooking.

• Hinnies are best eaten fresh but can be stored in an airtight tin for 24 hours.

Roast Goose

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Ingredients

• 1 goose

Optional Ingredients

• Salt and pepper

• 2 onions peeled and quartered/garlic

• Herbs: thyme, bay leaves, sage

• Flour/cornstarch/Bisto etc.

Equipment

• Large rack to hold goose in oven roasting pan

• Very long-handled spoon for basting (most bulb basters are too short)

• String

• Toothpicks

Method

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit (degrees F).

2. Cooking time is calculated at 20 minutes to the pound plus 20 minutes.

3. If the neck, heart, gizzard, and liver (giblets) are not separate in the usual small plastic packet, remove them.

4. Pull out any loose fat from inside the goose. Save it.

5. Place some of the goose fat in a saucepan over medium-high heat.

6. As soon as it is melted a bit, add the neck and giblets and turn the heat to medium-low.

7. This is where you can add optional root vegetables and onion.

8. Add water to completely cover everything in the saucepan and let it simmer to start the gravy.

9. If you plan on stuffing the goose, this is the time. However, this can add to an already long cooking time, so it’s better to cook stuffing in a separate pan. For flavour, rub salt and pepper all over the body cavity, and place your favourite herbs and onion quarters in the goose body cavity at this time.

10. Chopped onion and herbs can be added to the neck cavity before you turn the fatty neck flap over and under. Secure it with a toothpick.

11. With a small very sharp paring knife, make small holes in the goose skin. This is to let out the fat. Do not cut the flesh. The skin is fairly loose so can be lifted slightly with your fingertips to ease the placement of your tiny cuts.

12. Rub salt and pepper over the whole goose.

13. Turn the bird onto its breast on the rack in the roasting pan. If the wings and/or legs are floppy, tie them loosely with string. (Roasting breast-side down first then on its back helps it to cook evenly).

14. Set timer for 30minutes. Baste the bird with the melted fat in the roasting pan.

15. Turn heat to 360 degrees F

16. Keep basting every 10/15 minutes.

17. At half-time (1½ hours for a 9-pound bird) take the goose out of the oven and carefully turn it onto its back.

18. Return to oven and cook for the remaining time.

19. Keep basting every 10/15 minutes.

20. Finish the gravy: Put 2-3 tablespoons of goose fat into a pan over medium heat

21. Add 2-3 tablespoons flour and mix well with a whisk.

22. Strain the gravy liquid into a bowl.

23. Whisk most of the gravy liquid into the roux (flour mix) slowly.

24. Bring this to the boil, then reduce to a simmer.

25. Pick out all the meat and vegetable scraps from the sieve; blenderize with the rest of the gravy liquid.

26. Add this to the gravy.

27. Alternatively, you can combine steps 22 and 25 and thicken with your favourite thickener – cornstarch, Bisto, etc.