Give us this day

Making at least some of the bread we consume as a family is something I am interested in doing but at the moment between working part time and being J's main care provider M-F as Philip works doubles does not leave me what I feel is the time to invest in bread at the moment.  I know things will change, J will get older and a year from September she will start nursery 15 hours a week or what usually works out to 3 hours a morning 5 mornings a week.

In the mean time I thought I would start trying some soda bread recipes as it is quick and easy.  Instead of using yeast as a leavening agent soda breads us bicarbonate of soda or (baking soda) and buttermilk.  It makes for a much heavier loaf but also a much easier quicker loaf no need for kneading or long periods of proofing either. I started a few minutes before 8am and by 9.15am I had the loaf above and that included 60 minutes of cooking time.

J loves it which was a big bonus as I have yet to really get her to enjoy normal whole wheat bread.  While it did not work out as cheap as a normal sandwich loaf I did use organic flour and it would probably work out as cheap as a similar loaf from a bakers.

I am posting the recipe I used but I would say to use twice the salt and I might try using 3/4 wheat and 1/4 next time just to see if it lightens it up a bit.  I used a food processor to mix the flour, butter, salt and butter the rest I did in a bowl with a wooden spoon.  It also makes a massive loaf so you might think about halving the recipe if you don't think you can go through a whole loaf in 24 hours as there are no preservatives to keep it fresh this will change the baking time as well.  Happy Baking!

Soda Bread

            675                g                                  Whole Wheat flour

35                  g                                  unsalted butter

10                  g                                  bicarbonate soda

10                  g                                  salt

280                ml                                buttermilk

250                ml                                water

                        METHOD

Mix the flour, salt, bicarbonate soda and butter to                     breadcrumbs

Add the buttermilk and water mix together and roll in to a ball (do not over work the mixture) cross the top of the dough and sprinkle with porridge oats

Leave in a warm place for 15 minutes to prove

Cook at 160⁰c to 170^oc for about 1 hour.

(When cooked if you tap the bottom of the bread it will make a hollow sound)