Wholemeal Brown Soda Bread with Oats, Treacle and Seeds

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200 °C (180 °C fan). Grease a 18×9 cm loaf tin with a little of the butter and line the base and long sides with a strip of baking paper, leaving it overhanging so you can lift the bread out later.

   Add in this stepCold butter 3 g

2. Put the wholemeal flour, plain flour and oats in a large bowl, sift in the bicarbonate of soda, add the salt and whisk well. Cut the rest of the cold butter into small cubes and rub it in with your fingertips until no lumps bigger than a lentil remain; the butter keeps the crumb tender and moist.

   Add in this stepCoarse wholemeal flour 175 gPlain flour 75 gRolled oats 30 gBicarbonate of soda (baking soda) 1 tspFine salt ½ tspCold butter 17 g

3. Warm a spoon in hot water, use it to measure the treacle and whisk it into the buttermilk until dissolved. Pour into the dry ingredients and stir with a spatula just until no dry flour is left; brown soda bread is a wet, thick batter rather than a dough. Leave it for 5 min so the oats and bran soak up the liquid.

   Add in this stepBlack treacle or molasses 2 tspButtermilk 260 ml

4. Scrape the batter into the tin and level the top. Dip a knife in water and cut a line 1 cm deep along the middle, then scatter the seeds over the top and press them in lightly.

   Add in this stepMixed seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, sesame) 2 tbsp

5. Bake in the oven for 35 min, until risen and deep brown. Lift the loaf out of the tin with the paper, peel the paper away and put the bread straight onto the oven rack for 5 min more so the sides and base crisp up. It is done when the bottom sounds hollow when tapped and a thermometer in the centre reads at least 96 °C.

   oven

6. Wrap the hot loaf in a clean tea towel and let it cool completely on a wire rack, for at least 1 h; wholemeal bread is sticky and gummy if cut while warm. Slice thinly and serve with butter, smoked salmon or a sharp cheddar.