My mam's recipe for Irish soda bread can't be bettered

Below is my mam's Irish soda bread recipe. She prefers the white variety, but brown (wholemeal) soda bread is arguably more popular across the country.

Like all cake breads, this one needs to be eaten on the day it is baked. If it isn't devoured that quickly (rare in our house!), it is delicious toasted or fried the following day.

You can either buy Buttermilk or make your own. There's a recipe below for Homemade.

Ingredients for one large loaf:

• 1lb 8oz (650g) plain white flour
• 1 level tsp salt
• 1 level tsp bread soda*
• 12fl oz (350ml) buttermilk

Method: Pre-heat your oven to 230C/450F/gas8.

Sieve the flour, salt and bread soda into a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre. Pour most of the buttermilk into the well. Stir with your hand or a wooden spoon, mixing the flour into the well in a circular motion until it becomes a soft, spongy dough. It should not be too wet or sticky. If it is too dry, add a little more buttermilk.

Turn it out onto a floured board and knead very lightly -- just sufficent for you to shape it into a flat round about 2 inches (5cm) deep. Using a knife, mark the dough with a cross that reaches to the sides.

There are two schools of thought about the cross.... some say it is to let the fairies escape, others that it brings the blessings of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Take your pick.)

Place the round onto a baking tray and bake for 20 minutes before reducing the heat to 200C/400F/Gas6 for a further 20-30 minutes. You'll know when the bread is cooked when tapping its underside produces a hollow sound. Leave the bread to cool on the windowsill or on a wire rack. Wrap it in a tea towel if you prefer a softer crust.

Prefer brown bread? You can adapt this Irish soda bread recipe by substituting the white flour with a mixture of 1lb (450g) of wholemeal flour and 8oz (225g) of white. Simply mix them together and continue with the rest of the above instructions for perfect brown Irish soda bread.

Our rural ancestors would have either bought their buttermilk from a local creamery or made it themselves. Back then, buttermilk was simply the liquid squeezed from cream while churning butter. It was used as on a daily basis as a dressing for potatoes and as an essential ingredient in Irish soda bread recipes. In fact, it turns up in quite a few traditional Irish recipes.

These days, most shop-bought buttermilk is 'cultured' and heat-treated to remove bacteria. It doesn't taste as good to drink as the natural variety, but it's perfectly suitable for baking.

Outside of Ireland, where the home baking tradition is still strong, it can be difficult to find buttermilk in shops.

Ingredients for 2.5 pints:

• ½ oz (15g) yeast
• ½ oz (15g) sugar
• 2 pints (1.1 litres) water
• ½ pint (265 ml) milk

Method: Cream the yeast and sugar together. Warm the water slightly and mix with the milk.

Gradually add the liquid to the creamed sugar and yeast mix, stirring all the time.

The resulting liquid smells sour but not unpleasant. Strain it through muslin and your buttermilk is ready for use in the above Irish soda bread recipe (this is a larger quantity than you'll need, so why not use up the excess by following this easy scone recipe?).

• Go beyond the basic loaf with more Irish soda bread recipes.
• Find out more about traditional Irish food.
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