Soda bread published containing a recipe for Soda Cake. In Europe, soda breads began to appear in the mid-19th century when bicarbonate of soda first became available for use as a raising agent. Breads, griddle cakes and scones with bicarbonate of soda, plus cream of tartar or tartaric acid became popular in Austria, Britain, Ireland and Poland. Traditional soda bread, eaten in Serbian cuisine, also uses bicarbonate of soda, particularly the traditional "česnica" (Serbian Cyrillic: Чесница), a soda bread made at Christmas. In Ireland, the flour is typically made from soft wheat, so soda bread is best made with a cake or
Cream soda preferable to those of "Uncle Bacchus" and in compliance with the recently introduced Maine law. Alexander C. Howell, of Vienna, New Jersey, was granted a patent for "cream soda-water" on June 27, 1865. Howell's cream soda-water was made with sodium bicarbonate, water, sugar, egg whites, wheat flour, and "any of the usual flavoring materials—such as oil of lemon, extracts of vanilla, pine-apple, to suit the taste" before drinking, the cream soda water was mixed with water and an acid such as tartaric acid or citric acid. In Canada, James William Black of Berwick, Nova Scotia was granted a U.S. patent