Paul Hollywood's Soda Bread (No Yeast) - My Gorgeous Recipes (2024)

FAQs

Why does Irish soda bread not need yeast? ›

For this reason, the reality is that Irish soda bread is much closer to a quick bread or scone than a loaf of bread. It rises thanks to a process called chemical leavening, in which the baking soda (a base) reacts when it's mixed with something acidic like buttermilk to produce carbon dioxide.

I always use 'fast-action' or 'easy-blend' yeast.

It's called Irish Soda Bread because it's made with baking soda instead of yeast. Because of this, it's more dense than your everyday white sandwich bread. Hearty and rustic are the words that come to mind, and it tastes kind of nutty from the wholemeal flour.

A bread leavened with bicarbonate of soda together with an acid - either lactic acid in the form of buttermilk or yoghurt or a chemical agent like cream of tartar. The resulting reaction releases carbon dioxide bubbles into the dough.

Nutrition Notes

Whole-wheat soda bread is a healthy addition to your plate! One serving—a 1/2-inch-thick slice—provides complex carbohydrates for sustained energy, protein, fiber, and vitamins and minerals.

This soda bread recipe – which uses bicarbonate of soda rather than yeast – allows you to whip up delicious home-made bread quickly, and give your gut health a massive boost in the process.

Fresh yeast, sometimes called cake yeast or compressed yeast, is a block of fresh yeast cells that contains about 70% moisture and is commonly used by baking professionals. It's pale beige in color, soft and crumbly with a texture similar to a soft pencil eraser, and has a stronger yeast smell than dry yeast.

Active dry yeast and instant yeast both help leaven bread and provide an airy, light texture, but they do so in slightly different ways and there's one major difference in how you use them: Active dry yeast needs to be dissolved in water before using, while instant yeast can be mixed right into dry ingredients.

Both types of bread use flour and contain refined carbohydrates. Sourdough bread would be considered healthier in the fact that it is a fermented food with lower gluten levels, making it easier to digest.

Healthy bread for yeast-free diets: Soda bread

This traditional Irish bread is made with wholemeal or white flour and buttermilk and baking powder rather than yeast, so ideal for people on yeast-free diets. Wholemeal varieties are healthiest. It's also super easy to make from home, try this simple soda bread recipe.

Why is Irish soda bread so good? ›

Many Irish families also lived in isolated farm areas with no access to ovens, and soda bread solved this problem too. The bread was cooked in three-legged iron pots or baked on griddles over open hearths. This gave the bread its famous hard crust, dense texture, and slightly sour tang.

Though soda bread is now most commonly attributed to Ireland, the first people to use soda to leaven their bread was the American Indians.

Let your dough rise enough before baking it

If the dough doesn't fill out with gas, perhaps because it hasn't had time to rise properly, the inside of the loaf will remain soggy and dense as the dough won't bake properly. You should therefore leave plenty of time for your dough to rise.

There are several possible reasons why your bread may not have risen even though you used fresh yeast. These include: not enough yeast, not activating the yeast, not allowing sufficient time for rising, not kneading the dough enough, not using the right ingredients, or using expired yeast.

Irish soda bread is a dense, unleavened bread made with flour,buttermilk, salt, sugar, and baking soda instead of yeast. Thebread is filling and was introduced around the time of the Irishpotato famine of 1845-1849.

There are several possible reasons why your bread may not have risen even though you used fresh yeast. These include: not enough yeast, not activating the yeast, not allowing sufficient time for rising, not kneading the dough enough, not using the right ingredients, or using expired yeast.

You might have added too much baking soda or baking powder or used self-rising flour. If your bread's texture is dry: You might have added too much baking soda, too little liquid or not baked it at high enough temperature.

Irish soda bread is prepared without yeast. Traditionally it has just four ingredients: flour, baking soda, salt, and buttermilk. The baking soda and buttermilk react to cause the dough to rise. In Ireland, soda bread is often made from stone-ground whole-wheat flour, though white flour versions are available.