Vegan Soda Bread & Lammas

I'm on a baking kick right now. I'm finding that there isn't a day when baking doesn't sound like fun.

Today is Lammas, the Pagan festival celebrating the grain harvest. Traditionally, you're supposed to make a loaf of bread shaped like a man and eat it. It's representative of a human sacrifice to the gods asking for blessings and a boutiful harvest. I have never made a bread man, largely due to the fact that bread has always been extremely intimidating. This year I decided to make Irish soda bread.

Although I am not vegan, I am quite particular about the animal products I buy, and vegan recipes are often cheaper for me to make than ones with eggs and dairy. True soda bread is made with buttermilk, but it turns out that you can substitute any non-dairy milk with lemon juice or apple cider vinegar with a teaspoon of the acid for every cup of milk-substitute.

I found this recipe, and made it (it fails to mention in the recipe that it should be cooked at 425). I decided that it would be better with more sugar (based on absolutely nothing at all), so I used 3 tablespoons instead of 2. It's a little on the sweet side, so it's more like a dessert than I intended. I also discovered that they really weren't kidding when they said to add the liquid slowly. I added it a little bit at a time, and it rapidly went from dry and floury to too wet. Shaping the bread became very difficult at that point, so rather than a bread man, I made a bread blob. It ended up being a little too moist in the center - still tasty, but not perfect. My roommate's verdict was that it was like soggy biscotti, which didn't stop him from eating 2 pieces. I think the recipe has a lot of potential; I just need to not mess it up next time.