perfect soda bread?

Regular readers will know that I'm a fan of Felicity Cloake's series in the Guardian 'The Perfect...'. This soda bread recipe is taken from her recent soda bread explorations and I have to say it has worked out really well. The oven in my apartment is a bit rubbish so food doesn't always brown properly on top but loaf turned out pretty well anyway and it was ridiculously easy to make. I put everything together when I woke up this morning, put it in the oven and sat down to enjoy a cup of coffee and in almost no time at all I had a freshly baked loaf of delicious soda bread ready for brunch. I think scrambled eggs and maybe some bacon is called for here. If there's any bread left over from brunch soda bread is a great accompaniment to homemade soup.

Ingredients
450g wholemeal flour
50g rolled oats
1 tsp salt
1 level tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tbsp treacle
1 tbsp honey
450ml milk soured with a tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp melted butter

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6 and line a baking sheet with baking parchment.
2. Put the flour, oats, salt, and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl and mix together well.
3. In another bowl or jug mix together the soured milk, treacle and honey then pour into the dry ingredients. Mix everything together quickly and trying not to work the dough too much as this will make the resulting bread tough. You will end up with a soft and sticky dough. (Mine was a little too wet and gloopy so I needed to add a little extra flour.)
4. Transfer the dough to your prepared baking sheet, form into a round and then cut a deep cross into it. I covered my loaf with an upturned cake tin to help maintain the shape while it was baking but feel free to leave it uncovered if you prefer a more free-formed shape. 
5. Bake in the oven for about 50 minutes or until it is golden brown and cooked through. 
6. Once you've removed the bread from the oven brush the top with melted butter and then leave to cool before eating. 

banana & rum cake

This is another wonderful cake to have with your mid-morning tea or coffee. It is very easy to make and I put it together one Saturday morning in between the various weekend chores I had to do. The cake isn't egg-free for any reason other than the fact I had no eggs in the house and I wanted to make a banana cake to use up the over ripe ones sat in my kitchen. You don't have to add the rum syrup, it's delicious and moist without but the rum helps to elevate this cake to something a little more grown-up and special.



Ingredients

Cake:
1 cup soured milk (sour regular milk by adding the juice of a lemon) or regular yogurt
1 cup oil
3 bananas mashed

3/4 tsp baking powder
2 cups of caster sugar
3 cups of self raising flour
2 tsp vanilla extract 

a little milk if too thick
Pinch salt

Syrup:
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup dark rum
Squeeze of lemon juice

1. Grease and flour a bundt tin, and preheat the oven to 180°C, 350°F. 
2. Place all the cake ingredients in a bowl and beat together using a wooden spoon or electric hand whisk until everything is well combined, if it’s a bit thick add a little extra milk. 
3. Pour the mixture into the tin then bake in the oven for about 50 minutes until well risen and a skewer comes out clean.
4. Turn off the oven, and remove cake. Leave it to cool in the tin while you prepare the syrup by heating the ingredients together until the sugar has completely dissolved into the rum syrup.
5. With a skewer poke holes all over the cake and while the cake and syrup are still warm pour the syrup over the cake. Leave the cake to cool completely in the tin then turn out and serve.

Lemon, poppy seed and orange flower Ciambella

Another tasty recipe from my big sister...

"A traditional Italian cake which I have tweaked a bit so it is now crossed with a lemon drizzle style glaze and added a bit of orange flower water for good measure - just because I love it's soft floral flavour with the sharp lemon.

You could also make this flavoured with caraway seeds, orange zest, liqueur soaked fruit, chocolate chips, almonds..... It's up to you. Happy baking :)"

Ingredients
1 cup soured milk (squeeze of lemon until milk curdles - don't worry it'll look horrible but will be ok - it helps the rise!)
3 eggs
2 cups of caster sugar
3 cups of plain flour
grated zest of 2 lemons
1/2 cup poppy seeds
2 tsp vanilla essence/vanilla pod seeds
half cup vegetable oil
2 heaped teaspoons of baking powder
a little milk if too thick
Pinch salt

Glaze:
1/2 cup sugar
Juice of 2 lemons
2 tbs of orange flower water

1. Grease a ciambella/bundt tin, and dust it lightly with flour. Preheat the oven to 180°C, 350°F. 
2. Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil, sugar and lemon zest and salt. Beat using an electric whisk for about 3-4 mins 
3. Stir in poppy seeds, if it’s a bit thick add a little extra milk. 
4. Pour the mixture into the tin, and bake in the oven for about 50 minutes until well risen and a skewer comes out clean.
5. Turn off the oven, and remove cake 
6. Mix the glaze ingredients together. Poke a few holes with skewer then pour over glaze 
7. Leave it to cool in the tin 
8. The glaze should leave a nice crunchy topping. This cake can be eaten straight away but is even better the day after all the flavours have mingled. Great with a strong coffee at breakfast time but you don't need me to tell you when you can eat cake!