Friday, December 4, 2009

holidaze

I am in full-on, non-stop, pre-holiday brainstorming mode. While finalizing the recipe I'm going to use for apple butter (coming soon), and reading up on the canning methods so it can be gifted in time, I'm also planning to veganize some of my favorite holiday goods. Namely, stollen and soda bread. Christmas morning at our house has always started with a warm loaf of Irish Soda Bread that my mom had always prepared the night before. It's always been one of my favorite things, and I think that's why it's taken me six or seven years to try to change the recipe.

Soda bread is so-called because it uses baking soda as a leavening agent, in place of yeast. The key ingredient in the fairly simple recipe is buttermilk, which contains the lactic acid needed to react with the baking soda. While you can curdle soymilk to emulate the tang of buttermilk, I admittedly have reservations about messing with such simple chemistry. But, I love it and I miss it, so I'm going to give it a shot.

My mom's recipe also uses raisins and a to-be-omitted egg wash. Many recipes call for caraway, which we've never used, making our bread more sweet than savory. The dough is traditionally shaped into a ball and baked on a sheet or stone, with a cross sliced into the top. Stay tuned for the adaptation, and cross your fingers for success!

1 comment:

  1. I found a vegan soda bread recipe! can't wait to try it! (mom)

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