Soda bread, the easiest thing to make… and soooo good!

Soda bread is most commonly made in Ireland, it is wonderful! Crisp crust, inside it is soft and slightly chewy in a nice way,  it has its own particular flavour and is utterly delicious, best served while warm with lashings of Irish butter!

• 170g/6oz self-raising wholemeal flour
• 170g/6oz plain flour
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 290ml/½ pint buttermilk

Five ingredients – that’s not bad! If you prefer white flour, that’s fine! So how do you make it… that too is simplicity itself:

1. Preheat the oven to 400F/200C/Gas 6.
2. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl
3. Make a hollow in the middle and pour in the buttermilk, mixing quickly with a metal spoon, or gently with your hands, adding a little more milk if it seems to stiff, but don’t make it slimy or sticky
4. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly, really you’re just pulling it all together
6. make it into a ball, then press it down slightly and put it on a floured baking tray
7. Cut a cross right across the top and bake for about 30 minutes or until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.
8. when it’s coolish cut, butter, add jam if you want, eat and enjoy!
9. (You can add choc chips or dried fruit if you like!)