Hurley's Boston Soda Breads
by Julie
April 19, 2004
When Sean Hurley was laid off from his high-tech job in 2001, he decided to get out of the rat race and start his own business. A culinary arts degree and an old family recipe paved the way to his company making authentic and non-traditional soda breads.
Each of these all-natural breads are baked in an individual cast iron skillet, which helps to give them a nice crunchy exterior crust. Hurley's is currently making five bread flavors; Authentic Boston Irish with raisins and caraway seeds, Wild Cranberry, Cinnamon Apple, Chunk Chocolate and All American.
I stopped in at my local green grocer that I knew stocked the breads. Luckily for me, every flavor was available for choosing so I opted to try the All American and Chunk Chocolate. I really wanted to try the traditional Boston Irish but my distaste for caraway seeds kept me from selecting that loaf.
The All American bread is a white loaf studded with blueberries and cranberries, making it a great choice for a 4th of July celebration. The fruits were sparingly distributed throughout the bread and I would have liked to see more of them. The texture of the bread was crunchy on the outside and dense and chewy on the inside. Sliced thin and spread with butter it was quite tasty. However, my favorite way to eat soda bread is toasted, so I sliced the next slice a bit thicker and popped it in the toaster over. Once out of the oven I spread it with a little butter and took a bite. When toasted the bread gets very crunchy on the outside and incredibly chewy on the inside. This, in my opinion, is the perfect way to enjoy soda bread.
I next moved onto the Chunk Chocolate loaf, again trying a slice plain, with no butter this time. There were a good amount of chunks in the bread, and the top was dusted with granulated sugar. I found it to be tasty, but I really wanted to try toasting it. For fear of chocolate oozing all over my toaster oven, I placed a slice on a baking sheet and toasted one side, then the other. This time I spread the hot, toasted bread with butter and again, the bread was crunchy on the outside and chewy when you bit into it. It was quite tasty, a little like nibbling on a chocolate croissant only with more crunch and chew.
My weakness for toasted soda bread prompted me to wrap the remains and head for the freezer. I pre-sliced what was left of each loaf then wrapped in plastic and foil. Now the slices are ready to be pulled out and toasted anytime. I recommend trying the different flavors since you don't often see recipes for anything other than traditional soda bread. And here's hoping that Hurley will make a seedless version of the traditional loaf for those of us with an aversion to caraway seeds!
Purchasing Information
Hurley's breads can be found in several markets located in the Boston area. If you live within 50 miles of Boston they will ship you 4 loaves for $19.95 plus shipping costs. For long-distance orders, give them a call and they'll figure out pricing for you. Hurley's phone: 617-364-1798
Hurley's Boston Soda Breads
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