Irish Soda Bread

So this is it.  I love soda bread and would happily eat a soda cake to myself with just butter.  Add a bit of homemade jam and my tastebuds are in ecstasy.

 I found it hard to get the recipe right but turns out I had just been over-complicating it.  The basic recipe comes from one of my co-workers Rob's Dad who makes bread every evening for 3 generations of the family.  

This will freeze well so you can make this in advance and defrost overnight. I double the recipe but make three loaves at a time because I add my own seed mix to it (see variations).

250g Stoneground Wholewheat Flour
250g Plain Flour
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Soda
500ml Buttermilk

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190C (reduce to 175C when the bread goes in)
2. Stir together the dry ingredients and make a well in the middle pour in the buttermilk.  Mix until combined well but dont overmix.
3. Grease and Flour a loaf tin and empty the dough into it.  Cut a slit with a sharp knife down the length of it to let out the steam.
4. Bake for approx 1 hour.  If you're not sure test the bread to see if its done.
5. Take out the bread and wrap in a clean tea towel (this will prevent the crust from getting too hard)

Variations

I like nutty tasting bread so I mix together linseed pumpkin seed sunflower seed sesame seed and a fistful of oatmeal which makes it very rich in fibre

A love song to the Chelsea Bun

So, for most things baking related I'm pretty much up for anything.  There are a few things that still give me the heeby-jeebyz and working with yeast is one of them.  This is a little ironic that in my youth I worked in a pizzeria making bin loads of dough from fresh yeast - happy as a clam sitting on a mixer while stretching and kneading dough until they fired my ass and, well, that's another story for another day!

This recipe is loosely based on the one that comes in the Kenwood cookbook; it's the wunderkind of a cinnamon bun and a Chelsea bun. It's simple to make, but takes time, it is worth it though.  I have included suggestions for making the drawn out process as lazy as possible.

There are variations where you use fruit soaked in tea or whiskey overnight and I'll update this after I make my Christmas cakes when I will be soaking the fruit in Jameson anyway. 

Equipment notes;

You will need to use your 8" tin (which I usually use for my Christmas cake) for putting the rolls in. I use a silicone brush for brushing the dough and the glaze.

Be warned this recipe makes twelve and they are that good warm that you may attempt to eat them all so make sure you have enough mouths.

Dry ingredients

500g Strong White Flour

1 tsp Salt

2 sachets of dried fast action yeast

75g sugar

50g butter

Wet ingredients

225g lukewarm milk*

1 egg

Filling

Light muscovado sugar

A fistful of sultanas or two

Mixed spice

Cinnamon

30g Butter melted

Glaze:

40g Sugar

4tbsp water

1. Dry ingredients into a stand mixer with a dough hook. Turn it onto it's lowest setting and let the butter mix in properly. 
2. Mix the wet ingredients together and pour into the dry ingredients and leave the machine to knead for 5 mins.
3. Take the dough off the hook and leave it in the bowl covered with clingfilm (saran wrap) that has been oiled on the inside. Put it in a warm place for an hour or until it has doubled in size. (Note: how I do this is put the bowl near a radiator turn on the heating and watch a couple of half hour shows on netflix when they're over move to step four.
4. Peel off the cling film carefully you'll be using it again shortly.  Knock the air out of the dough by putting the bowl back into the stand mixer with the dough hook and turning it on for 1 min.
5. Grease your 8" tin
6. Roll out the dough till its about a foot square.  Brush it generously with melted butter sprinkle a good fistful of muscovado sugar in an even layer and the sprinkle the spices on top about a level tsp of each for me works for me and then finally the dried fruit evenly over the dough.
7. Roll it up like a big old swiss roll.  Cut it in half, then cut those halves in half to make four even pieces which are finally each divided in three.  Place the rolls cut side up in the prepared tin and cover with the cling film again.  Place them in the warm place again for 30-40mins. (Note: This time you make yourself a cup of tea or coffee and turn on the oven to 200c before you sit down to watch another episode of something and when it's over pop the buns in the oven).
8. Bake for 20-25 mins.  Take them out of the oven but leave them in the tin. 
9. To make the glaze: put sugar and water in the pot and dissolve over a medium. Dont bother with a spoon just swirl it to mix. Once the sugar has been dissolved let the glaze boil for a minute or two until it becomes syrupy. Brush it on the buns and allow to cool.

*How to know if your milk is lukewarm (the right temperature)

Pop the milk in the microwave for 20 seconds, stick a washed finger knuckle in and ask yourself this does it feel nice and warm but you wouldn't describe it as warm enough to be hot. If you still feel I'm being a little wishy washy try this pour equal quantities of boiling water and tap water together and stick your finger in the cup. That's how it should feel but you needn't be too exacting.

Raising Agent / Leavening Agent

Basic rule of baking if you want something to rise you will either need to use eggs and/or a raising agent of some description. You need bubbles to make cakes, breads and even some cookies rise.  The bubbles get warm in the oven they expand and your baking goods get lighter.  So the obvious question would be why are there so many types of raising agents and whats the difference between them.  Can you swap them?

Yeast - Typically used in breads, pizzas and bread based buns (Chelsea buns & Cinnamon buns).  It's not suitable for cakes as a general rule because yeast has a fairly strong flavour, especially in the case of sour dough.  Using yeast means taking time to leaven and knead the bread.  Yeast is a living organism that needs feeding (sugar of some description) and warmth to be kicked into action.

• Fresh Yeast - The best way that I can describe it that it looks like putty and smells like beer.
• Dried Fast Action Yeast - Powdered version of fresh yeast that is much more predictable 
• Sour Dough Starters - This is nothing shy of magic in my books. In the new year I will tackle the whole Sour Dough Bread thing.

Bread Soda / Baking Soda -Typically used for scones, cookies and Irish soda bread among many others. If you've ever made a Baking Soda Volcano you will know that if you add an acid to Bread Soda (who for those want it's proper chemical term it's NaCl -Sodium Chloride) it will fizz up and release a gas called carbon dioxide (CO2 this is the stuff we exhale).  This is a fairly instantaneous release of gas so only add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients when you're ready to pop it into the oven.  Cakes that have a high acid content in them such as a lemon based cake or a cake with either buttermilk, sour cream, or yogurt in them will use baking soda as either the main raising agent or an additional agent to balance the chemical process and improve flavour.  This seems to be much more common in American baking recipes than Irish or UK equivalents.  I wonder of the origins I'm all ears if someone can enlighten (see the way I 'lightened' the sentence with a baking pun) me.

Baking Powder - Typically used for cakes.  Baking powder is composed of everything that you need   (Baking Soda and an Alkaline, a stabiliser (quite often Cream of Tartar) and some cornflour (so its not as at risk to moisture) in the correct ratios, to make a cake rise.  Typically a recipe calls for 1 teaspoon baking powder per 200g Plain Flour.  The actual baking powder recipe changes from company to company including one discovered by the man who created Birds Custard.

Self Raising Flour - I'm including this because even though it's not a raising agent it contains the correct ratio of flour to raising agent to make a cake rise, this makes life much easier.

Just a note on Scones and  Soda Bread if you have buttermilk use baking soda if you have fresh milk use baking powder

Fruit Scones that dont look like biscuits!

Finally I found a recipe that works!  For years every time I made scones they wound up looking like biscuits- tasty but rock hard.  I got the basic recipe from Shamrock but as usual have made a few little changes.  The basic recipe called for Margarine but I prefer butter.  I also have ingredients for a glaze which I think makes a good scone a great scone.  Apple and Cinnamon are a lovely combination so if you choose to put apples (pick a firm apple with flavour e.g. a Pink Lady or Coxs Pippin) in the mix add a tsp of cinnamon for every 100g of flour or you can add it to the glaze.  This makes about 12 generous scones that can be frozen and microwaved for approx 1 minute to defrost though nothing beats a scone fresh out of the oven.

Ingredients
8oz/200g Self Raising Flour
4oz/100g Fruit (Sultanas/Cherries/Cranberries/chopped Apple/Raspberries-take your pick)
2oz/50g Butter (cut into cubes at room temp)
1oz/25g Sugar
¼ pint Milk (though I added an egg instead and topped it up with milk for a richer dough)

Glaze:
1 egg
2 tbsp Demerara Sugar (there should be enough here but you can always add more)
1 tsp Cinnamon

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6
2. Sieve Flour into a bowl. Stir in the sugar
3. Rub the butter into the flour and sugar mix. It should look at little like breadcrumbs when you're finished.  Stir in the fruit.
4. Make a well in the middle. The best way to stir this gently is to make a claw shape with your hand and add the milk (or egg and milk) a little at a time until you reach a soft dough.  (Your hands will be a sticky mess but you'll have really light and fluffy scones)
5. Tip your dough onto a floured work surface.  Roll it out to about 2cm
6. To glaze them brush them with egg and pop them in the oven just like that or dip them in the demerara sugar cinnamon mix.

 

1. Bake in the oven for 10-15 Mins and serve with butter or cream and jam.

Variation
For Brown Scones use 4oz/100g Wholemeal flour and 4oz/100g Self Raising Flour instead of the 8oz/200g Self Raising Flour in the recipe and leave out the fruit.

Yeast Free Pizza Base

Dough can be frozen or placed in a zip locked back for a couple of days or used for flatbreads

250g Self Raising Flour
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Plain Yoghurt
Cold Water

1. Preheat the oven to maximum temp (usually 250c). If you have a solid shelf place this in the top of the oven (if not preheat a large baking sheet). Sift the flour into a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Add Olive Oil and a little water.

2. Shape your hand into a claw and mix the ingredients together and more cold water until you have a sticky dough.

3. Knead the dough on a floured board with the heel of your hand until it's smooth.

4. Half the dough and roll out thinly. When the oven is preheated fully place on the preheated shelf or baking sheet (err on the side of caution because if the oven is not hot enough it will be soggy). Brush the dough with a little oil then add tomato sauce and toppings. It should take about 5-7 mins to cook.

Flatbreads

These are quick, more-ish, easy to make and perfect with hummus. Check out Pizza base instructions for an alternative pizza base recipe using these ingredients.

250g Self Raising Flour
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Plain Yoghurt
Cold Water

1. Sift the flour into a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Add Olive Oil and a little water.

2. Shape your hand into a claw and mix the ingredients together and more cold water until you have a sticky dough.

3. Knead the dough on a floured board with the heel of your hand until it's smooth.

4. Break off a walnut sized piece of dough and roll in one direction with a rolling pin until as thin as possible. Don't worry if it sticks a little to the rolling pin just make sure that you keep the rolling pin floured. The fact that it's sticky means that the breads will stick to the surface as you're rolling them out and that they will be nice and thin.

5. Heat a dry frying pan until its very hot. Carefully lift up the rolled out dough and brush off excess flour and place on frying pan. As the flatbread cooks it will puff up a little. Flip the flatbread over and cook on the other side. They look a bit like Naan bread or pitta when they're cooked.

TIP
Rinse your pan under the tap every couple of flatbreads then allow the pan to regain it's heat level. This will prevent the flour burning on the pan and tainting the flavour of your flatbreads.