Bread Beginnings - Soda Bread

I have gifted myself with a fabulous cook book, well baking book to be correct.  I've watched a couple of episodes of 'The Great British Bake Off' and saw a Paul Hollywood book 'How To Bake' on the Tesco shelf and thought, well why not!  If you are going to learn something from the British, I suppose baking would be one.  I gingerly picked the book off the self and started leafing through it.  After reading a few pages (and seeing a few pictures) I was totally hooked.  It was the amazing bread recipes in particular that got me.

Bread = weakness

I made sure I packed my new baking book for my long weekend down to Sevenoaks and started familiarizing myself with kneading, rising, proving, and baking while on the plane.  I have also identified a few baking utensils that need to be added to my kitchen collection!! :)  soon... hehe.  Something called a Scotch Scraper will be my first essential bread baking tool, then working upwards eventually to a fabulous mixing machine (the ones in bright metallic colours!!)

Without much objection my new baking book was greatly accepted in the Sowden/Wood household. 

Let the bread making begin :) 

Soda Bread

Ingredients: (Serves 4)

• 500g plain white flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 400ml buttermilk

Instructions:

Heat your oven to 220C and line a baking tray with baking paper.

Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl, then stir in the buttermilk. to form a sticky dough.  Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and mould into a ball.  Flatten the dough sightly with your hand and cross-cut the dough.  Lightly dust the top with flour.

Bake for 30 mins or until the loaf if golden brown.  Leave to cool on a wire rack.  Tear it up to serve :)