I am posting this recipe from April 2020 to remind me how time flies. I was wondering how I could keep myself busy during the lockdown and I have started this blog, Fab Cuisine. Lockdown restrictions across the UK are being relaxed gradually and we can start again to spend time with our families and friends. so, I will be sharing more recipes to accommodate your future parties.
SODA BREAD
Being at home, self-isolated, since the last five weeks has been a real challenge for anyone who loves cooking. The fact was that for the first two weeks no flour, eggs, dry yeast, fresh yeast were available at the supermarket but the need to bake was really tempting. I baked my first soda bread following a recipe online. It did work, or at least like it was supposed to be, but my fiancée’s feedback was that the bread was too dense. I thought that it was the result of using only plain flour and no fresh/dry yeast. After a few attempts to bake the bread twice a week I was running out of plain flour. So I used self raising flour in the recipe and this was my fiancée’s feedback: “so far, this is the best bread that you have made”. Two steps will be needed to make your own soda bread in less that 50 minutes.
INGREDIENTS:
300 g plain flour; 200 g self-rising flour; 2 teaspoons of bicarbonate of soda; 2 teaspoons of salt; 100 ml of milk; 300 ml of water; 2 tablespoons of golden syrup; 1 tablespoon of lemon juice.
First step: Turn the oven to 180C. Then, in a bowl mix the milk and lemon juice. Leave it on the side. Meanwhile in a mixing bowl combine all the dry ingredients together, both flour, salt, bicarbonate of soda and the golden syrup.
Second step: Add the water to the milk and stir with a spoon. Then, pour the liquid into the flour mix and stir with a spoon (wooden or metal). At this stage, I have added a few wild garlic flowers to give an extra flavour to the the bread. Wild garlic can be found everywhere at this time of the year and this is a good way how to use the flowers.
Grease generously a loaf tin and put the mix into the tin. Bake the bread for 35-40 minutes. When cooked, leave the bread on a cooling rack. The soda bread is moist, sweet and soft. Slice it, toast it and enjoy it! Et voilá!
HAPPY EASTER everyone!
