Irish Soda Bread

I was feeling patriotic after watching 'The Gangs of New York' so I decided that this week I would make a traditional Irish soda bread! Only problem was I soon discovered you can't buy soda flour in Wales, but also found this recipe works well with strong wholegrain flour if you cannot obtain soda flour :)

• 500g Soda Bread Flour (or Wholegrain)
• 1tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
• 30g Caster Sugar
• 425ml Butter milk
• Butter to grease a baking pan

1. Sift flour, bicarb and salt into a mixing bowl (re-add the bran from the flour that has been separated)
2. Pour in the buttermilk and using a palette knife of silicon spatula and mix together, then use your hands to bind mixture evenly - add more buttermilk if needed.
3. Grease a baking pan.
4. Roll dough into a ball, then throw onto baking pan to form a dome shape, then sprinkle with some rolled oats.
5. Bake at 190C for 30 mins, then reduce heat to 150C and bake for a further 30 mins until slightly risen, slightly browned with a firm crust.
6. Remove from the oven and wrap in a cloth to cool.

This bread goes really nicely buttered with a broth, with meant and pickles, as a breakfast or with a cooked breakfast :) And once again this freezes well if you have more than needed.

Next week I will show you how to make a traditional leek and potato soup that goes really well with this bread!

Thanks for stopping by
Siobhan xoxo

Tripple Chocolate Cookies

These cookies are more cakey than my other recipe and so are more suited to tea parties, as they suit well to tea and coffee and are quite filling. I also find that they make a really tasty raw dough in comparison to most cookie recipes if they don't quite get to the oven ;)

• 180g Butter
• 150g Light Brown Sugar
• 1 Egg
• 225g Plain Flour
• 1 Heaped tbsp Cadburys Coco Powder
• 1 Pinch Salt
• 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
• 75g Plain Chocolate
• 75g White Chocolate (chopped)
• 1 Dessert Spoon Milk (chopped)

1. Pre-heat oven to 190 degrees C.
2. Cream together the butter and sugar until pale (a silicon spatula makes this process much faster), then whisk in the egg.
3. Sieve in the flour, coco powder, salt and baking powder and mix into a dough. Don't be afraid to use your hands as long as you don't mind mess. If your dough won't combine use a dessert spoon (no more) of milk to help kneed the mixture into one ball.
4. When you have a smooth dough kneed in the chocolate, you can always use 150g of milk chocolate if you prefer.
5. Drop dessert spoon sized portions (well spaced from each other as the mixture spreads when cooking) onto a baking sheet greased well with vegetable oil.
6. Bake for 12 minutes until the mixture has spread and set.
7. Once removed from oven, leave to cool on the baking tray or five to ten minutes, once slightly hardened transfer to a cooling rack.
8. Enjoy!

These cookies cook so fast making them very convenient, and they also freeze down well if you make too many or wish to keep the aside or another occasion :) You can also experiment by using extracts in the mix such as orange or vanilla or experiment with the quantity or type of chocolate to suit your own tastes :)

Thanks for stopping by

Siobhan xoxo

Sorry!

Hey,
I know I haven't posted in a while but that's because I have been turning all my time and efforts to my studies, however my exams are all over and I will be back to blogging every week! :D
Thanks for stopping by
Siobhan xoxo