St Patrick's Day: 17th March

Why not celebrate St. Patrick's Day by baking some traditional soda bread?  There are many variants of the basic recipe, but here is one to try.

Irish Soda Bread.

170g/6oz self raising wholemeal flour
170g/6oz plain flour
½ tsp. Salt
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
290ml/ ½pint buttermilk
Method.
Preheat the oven to 400 F/200 C/ Gas mark 6
Tip the flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda into a large mixing bowl and stir.
Make a well in the centre and pour in the buttermilk, mixing quickly with a large fork to make a soft dough. You may need to add a little milk/buttermilk/water if the dough seems too stiff.
Turn onto a floured surface and knead briefly.
Form into a round and flatten slightly before placing on a floured baking sheet.
Cut a cross on the top and bake for bout 30 minutes, until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Cool on a wire rack.

The ratio of white to wholemeal flour can be varied to taste.

All the ingredients, apart from the salt, can be purchased at S & J's Pantry.