Brown Soda Bread

My boyfriend had been bugging me for months to make him some soda bread. My Dad’s birthday Red Velvet cake, I had some buttermilk left over and decided to use it to make some bread. First stop was to Rachel Allen’s Bake book, one of my favourite baking books. Since I prefer brown scones to white ones, I decided to make brown soda bread. Here’s the recipe!

Brown Soda Bread
Adapted from  Rachel Allen’s Bake
Ingredients
225g (8oz) wholemeal flour
225g (8oz) plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
50g (2oz) sunflower, or golden linseeds (this isoptional)
25g (1oz) butter (this is optional)
1 egg
375-400ml Buttermilk

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F)
2. Sift together the flours, salt and bicarbonate of soda in a large bowl. Mix in the seeds. Add the butter and rub into the flour mixture with your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs. Make a well in the centre.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg with the buttermilk and pour most, but not all, of the liquid into the flour mixture. Bring the flour and liquid together, either using a knife or better still, your fingers in the shape like a claw. Add more buttermilk if necessary, the dough should be soft but not sticky.
4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work counter. Bring together into a round shape, roughly 4cm deep. Mark a deep cross on the surface.
5. Place on a baking tray and bake for 15 minutes. Turn the heat down to 200°C (400°F), and cook for 30 minutes more. When fully cooked, the loaf will sound slightly hollow when tapped on the base. Cool on a wire rack.
6. Enjoy! I usually just top with butter, but I hear jam is nice too!