We have been making this brown bread at Gougane Barra Hotel for 15 years now.It goes well with soup or chowder,with smoked salmon on top of it and even for breakfast with butter and jam!
Makes 4 x 445g / 1 lb loaves or 2 x 890g / 2lb loaves
Ingredients
- 650g /1.5 lbs Brown wholemeal flour (or extra coarse wholemeal)
- 225g /0.5lb. Plain White flour
- 2tsp. Bread soda (bicarbonate of soda) sieved
- Optional: 50g / 2 oz. Demerara Brown sugar
- 4 Free-range Eggs
- Optional: 1 - 3 dessert spoons of Treacle (warmed slightly)
- 100g /4 oz. Irish Butter
- 850ml Buttermilk
- Optional: Handful of roughly chopped walnuts
- A handful of pinhead oatmeal and a little porridge oats can also be added if you like coarser bread
Method
Preheat oven to 170ºC.Mix all of the dry ingredients very well in a mixing bowl.Beat the eggs with an electric mixer / whisk. Add the warmed treacle and then the butter. Add ¾ of the buttermilk.Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add all the liquid ingredients. Mix well. Add the remaining butter milk, if required. Divide mixture into 4x (445g) 1 lb. lightly oiled bread tins.Optional: Shake sesame seeds on top. Bake at gas 3 (170ºC) for one hour or a little under.We always listen to our bread to decide when it is ready, when it has stopped whispering it is ready.
Enjoy!
Katy Lucey.