World Bread Day ’06
After the recent success of my bread baking venture, I thought I would try my hand at making a few more loaves of wheaten bread in celebration of World Bread Day ’06, also an event hosted by kochtopf. Wheaten bread, or brown bread as it’s simply known in some parts of Ireland, is one of my favourite breads. The appeal lies in it’s rustic look and taste, and the ease with which it can be whipped up.
The trouble is, the difference in ingredients between countries has meant that in the past I was never able to whip up a convincing loaf of this bread when in Sydney. Once, due to desperation, a loaf was even secretly smuggled over the border, past the usually sharp eyes of Australian customs officials.
The aim of my baking session today was to try to make a more international-friendly batch of wheaten bread. I used spelt flour because I have seen it being sold in Sydney shops, and tried an alternative to buttermilk because the buttermilk in Sydney is a little different also. The resulting bread is a bit finer in texture but retains the taste of the original.
This recipe is my version of Mother Linda’s, the original of which can be found here.
Wheaten Bread :
3 cups organic spelt flour
1 1/2 cups oatmeal
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
60g butter
1 egg
1 1/2 cups milk, mixed with 3/4 lemon juiced and left to stand for at least 15 minutes
In a bowl, combine the spelt flour, oatmeal and baking soda. Rub the butter into this mixture. Mix the egg with the soured milk and pour this over the dry ingredients. Stir gently with a fork or wooden spoon to bring the mixture together. Transfer the dough onto a flat tray lined with greaseproof paper. Cut a cross into the top of the dough (but don’t cut all the way through to the bottom of the dough). Bake at 190’C for about 1 hour, or until a knife inserted into the loaf comes out clean. Cool, slice thickly and eat toasted or as is, with a topping of your choice.
[13/10/2007 update : Note that a new and improved recipe is now here instead.]
Tags: N. Ireland 2006
Brilynn said,
October 16, 2006 @ 1:21 am
Any excuse to make bread is a good one! I love kneading the dough.
kathryn said,
October 19, 2006 @ 11:48 am
I’ve always known this sort of bread as soda bread and it has such a lovely flavour and texture. You’re right, it’s really fast and easy to make – mind you I’ve only ever made it with straight plain wheat flour, bicarb and buttermilk, but I like your addition of oatmeal and an egg.
I’ve also seen this sort of bread made with watered down sour cream, rather than buttermilk – I think the recipe was on Delia Smith’s website.
chanit said,
October 20, 2006 @ 4:57 am
I have never use spelt flour,thank you – your Bread is nice and healty 😉
ejm said,
October 21, 2006 @ 7:05 am
Your bread looks great! Well done for getting around the foreign ingredients difficulties.
-Elizabeth
P.S. Is this basically a quickbread and less mixing is better than lots of mixing?
Y said,
October 27, 2006 @ 12:03 am
kathryn : The egg in the recipe isn’t very traditional, but it seems to work for the result that I require.
chanit : Yes, I’ve recently gotten into the whole spelt flour thing. Would like to get some more of it and try it out on other recipes – not just cakes and breads.
ejm : Thanks 🙂 The bread is indeed a quickbread. It’s not meant to be kneaded for too long – just enough for it to come together as a dough.
mel-lissa hamon said,
November 1, 2006 @ 1:32 am
love it
totally
but how much fiber is in after baking
Y said,
November 1, 2006 @ 9:24 pm
Hi mel-lissa! That’s a question that hadn’t crossed my mind. Apparently spelt flour has more protein than wheat flour, and contains about 8.8% fibre. I don’t sieve the flour when making this bread because I like all the fibrous bits to be retained in the dough.
This is the brand of spelt flour that I used :
http://www.dovesfarm-organic.co.uk/info-spelt.htm