Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Radio Butterfly Buns, Barmbrack and Soda Bread: The Secrets of Irish Baking
Mar 13, 2026
Cherie Denham, baker, preserver, and author of The Irish Bakery, shares lively tales of traditional Irish breads and sweets. Hear about soda bread rituals and farls. Learn the charms of barmbrack and its wrapped tokens. Discover griddle treats like drop scones and Sunday puddings with tea and hospitality at their heart.
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Food Ads Lean On Nostalgia At Risk Of Staleness
- Modern food advertising leans heavily on nostalgia because comfort and memory sell food, but overreliance risks staleness and short-term thinking.
- Jeff Swystun notes brands reboot jingles and characters (Mikey, Oscar Mayer) instead of creating fresh narratives.
Soda Bread Is Core To Irish Home Baking
- Soda breads are the backbone of traditional Irish home baking, made with just flour, buttermilk, bicarbonate of soda, and salt for quick, everyday loaves.
- Cherie Denham notes families baked daily for large households and favored soda farls, fruit sodas, treacle farls, and wheat farls as fast, reliable breads.
Cross On Soda Bread Keeps The Devil Out
- Cherie shares that marking a cross on soda bread was believed to keep the devil out and piercing each quarter would let the fairies out.
- She recounts her great aunt Evie's teaching that these markings were part of household superstition and protection.
