Soda Bread with Oats, Beer and Honey
Crisp, clear, snowy mountains and the sky brilliant blue. I’m torn. Is autumn or winter my favourite season? I can’t decide. The shifting of the season to frosty mornings and dark evenings has had me rummaging around in the freezer for bones. I have a craving for broth and toast. It’s almost dinner time and I haven’t been keeping up with my sour dough making, so a quick bread is the best option for instant gratification.
I’ve always had a fascination with grains and flours. I think it harks back to my childhood growing up in West Otago, New Zealand. Our nearest “big smoke” was the town of Gore, Southland and one of the main industries was the production of Creamota porridge oats. I recall a sense of pride that the porridge prepared by my father in the mornings was from just down the road. This delightful film from 1932 tells the story of Creamota (Nga Taonga Sound & Vision). Although the Creamota factory is no longer in operation, I pleased to say that Southland’s oat industry is still going strong.
Anyway, on to the bread. I started making this recipe as it uses our local organic honey from the Hislop family and beer from our friends at Emporium Brewing. I like to serve it with homemade cultured butter. As buttermilk is the by-product of cultured butter making, you’ll have your own to make the bread. No waste!
Tip: have the beer and buttermilk at room temperature so the honey dissolves into the mixture when whisked.
200g wholemeal flour
100g white baker’s flour
60g spelt flour
30g fine rolled oats, plus extra for sprinkling on the top
1 t baking soda
½ t fine salt
200ml beer
200ml buttermilk
1 T honey
40g butter, melted
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Grease a loaf tin with butter or line the tin with baking paper.
2. In a bowl sift together the white flour, spelt flour, baking soda and salt. Stir in the rolled oats and wholemeal flour.
3. In a separate bowl combine the beer, buttermilk, honey and butter. Whisk together, dissolving the honey.
4. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Mix gently until all the dry ingredients are incorporated.
5. Place the dough into the tin and smooth the top. Sprinkle with rolled oats.
6. Place in the oven and bake for 35 minutes. The bread should be golden brown and sound hollow when tapped.
7. Turn out of the tin and allow to cool on a rack.