Irish soda bread

Soda bread is a variety of quick bread traditionally made in a variety of cuisines in which sodium bicarbonate is used as a leavening agent instead of the traditional yeast.

Ingredients:
•    450 grams plain flour or spelt flour or light rye flour
•    400 millilitres buttermilk or milk soured with a tablespoon of lemon juice
•    1 teaspoon salt
•    1 teaspoon sugar
•    1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
•    2 tablespoon fennel seeds

Method:
1.    Mix together the flour, bread soda, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl.
2.    Then make a well in the middle and pour in the liquid gradually, mixing with your hand in a claw shape. Don’t add the liquid all at once, and stop adding it when the mixture is soft but not sloppy.
3.    Turn out the bread onto a floured work surface and shape it into a rough round. Pat down the round until it’s around 2 centimetres thick, then cut a deep cross into the surface with a sharp knife and put it onto a floured baking tray.
4.    Bake at 220C for around 15 minutes, then turn down to 180 celsius for 30 minutes more. Tap the base after 30 minutes at 180 celsius – it will sound hollow when it’s done.
5.    Leave to cool and then slice and enjoy.

Recipe provided by Aoife Allen from Hubbub for #FoodSavvy Norfolk & Suffolk