IRISH SODA BREAD

I went to a Stake Relief Society Meeting last night and they not only served Irish Soda Bread, but gave us the recipe.  This recipe is from a lady in my ward. 

BRENDA'S IRISH SODA BREAD

3 cups plain flour
3 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
4 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 cups buttermilk
1 1/2 cups hot water. 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 
Mix all ingredients well in a large bowl.  This should look like sloppy porridge.  Pour into a loaf tin lined with parchment paper.  Put on middle rack in oven.  On the shelf below put a pyrex dish filled with hot water.  This will help the bread to rise. Bake for one hour. 

I had to look up several of her "Irish terms" to translate them.  For the baking soda and sugar, she had "1 dessert spoon of bread soda, and 2 dessert spoons of sugar."  I found on the internet that a dessert spoon is equal to 2 teaspoons.  I also had to look up and make sure that bread soda was the same as baking soda.  It was.  This is great bread and is what you get here if you go into a restaurant and order a bowl of soup - you get a plate with 1 or 2 slices of this bread and butter.  Ireland doesn't know the meaning of the word "margarine".  I'm not sure you can even buy it in the store.  They only sell real butter here.  Yum.  (Ok, you might find margarine if you look really hard.  Also, they don't have Pam here.  I really think you could use Pam and spray the loaf pan instead of using the parchment paper.  They have a spray called, "Fry Light".  It is made of sunflower oil and there's another one made of olive oil.  I've used these to fry and they are fine, but they don't work real well for greasing a baking pan, which might be why she uses parchment.  Also, I think you can bake this in a deep round pan also.  A lot of soda bread that you buy at a bakery here is round.