It’s Easy to Make Irish Soda Bread with Grandkids

For many years, I organized an annual St. Patrick’s Day luncheon in New York City on behalf of Kerrygold butter and cheeses. Our guests were national magazine food editors and food writers.

At one celebration, the doyenne of Irish Cuisine, Darina Allen, of Ireland’s renowned Ballymaloe Cookery School, demonstrated how easy it is to make Irish soda bread.

In fact, it’s so easy that seven-year-old Miss T and I each made a loaf together over FaceTime on Sunday. Get the recipe from Kerrygold here.

Actually, the previous time Miss T made Irish soda bread was when she was three, when we decided to bake a loaf after preschool. Now she’s old enough that she no longer needs me in the kitchen to help her, which is a good thing, since we are still distanced.

How to Make Irish Soda Bread as a Remote Project

Before you begin, make sure that the child has all the needed ingredients and kitchen tools.

The recipe calls for just four ingredients and they’re basic, except for the buttermilk. Due to the pandemic, I’m using buttermilk powder that’s available online, to avoid an extra trip to the grocery store. I pre-measured the amount Miss T would need and sent it over ahead of time.

Make sure that there will be an adult present to handle the oven.

Checklist of Tools your Child will Need

Here’s a checklist of what that the child should gather, in addition to the ingredients:

• Copy of the recipe
• Liquid measuring cup
• Dry measuring cups
• Measuring spoons
• Table knife
• Rubber spatula
• Sieve
• Large, wide bowl
• Smaller bowl for mixing the buttermilk powder, if using
• Cutting board or a clean worktop where the child can shape the loaf
• Bench scraper (optional) for scraping up the dough
• Baking sheet
• Wire rack

Another recipe you can do remotely with the grandkids is Strawberry Cheesecake in a Cup.

How to Proceed Making Irish Soda Bread

Here’s an overview of how to conduct this baking project:

• Have the child gather all the ingredients and tools. Everything doesn’t need to be on the workspace at the same time if space is limited–just close at hand for easy access.
• Have the child read the recipe and discuss key parts so they understand what they are about to do.
• Have an adult heat the oven to 450 degrees F.
• If you are using powdered buttermilk, start by reconstituting the powder in water to the proportion called for on the buttermilk container. You want to make 16 ounces, or 2 cups of buttermilk. Set aside.
• Begin by measuring the flour into the bowl. While a scale would be more accurate, I didn’t want to add more complexity to the project so we used dry measuring cups.
• Proceed with the recipe, demonstrating the steps each time before the child begins.
• Note: Start with 13 ounces of buttermilk or about 1 1/2 cups. If you add all 2 cups of liquid, you are likely to get a very wet dough that will be difficult to shape; add more buttermilk if the dough is too dry to hold together.

What to Teach your Child when Making Irish Soda Bread

In this exercise, the baking techniques you can teach are:

• The difference between liquid measuring cups and dry measuring cups.
• How to measure dry ingredients by the spoon and sweep method.
• How to sieve baking soda.

What your Grandchild Learns from this Project

Baking is a wonderful learning opportunity for a number of reasons:

• Reading and comprehension: Children must read and understand instructions and anticipate the next steps.
• Math: They gain a familiarity with fractions and measurements.
• Competency: Children learn their way around a kitchen.
• Self esteem: Children gain self-confidence and a sense of self-sufficiency by producing a food as complex as bread.

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