Fennel and brown sugar soda bread

Name: Fennel and brown sugar soda bread
Cook time: 1 h
Yield: 4-6
Cuisine: Irish
Ingredients: 400g plain white flour; 1 tbsp baking powder; 1½ tsp baking soda; 1½ tsp fine sea salt (or 2 tsp flaky sea salt); 50g rolled oats; 2 tbsp light brown sugar; 2 tbsp fennel seeds; 300ml buttermilk

Helen Goh

April 26, 2019

Serve this soda bread with smoked salmon, cream cheese and microherbs (as pictured) for a feast.William Meppem

easyTime:30 mins - 1 hourServes:4-6

Ridiculously easy to make, a loaf of this soda bread fresh out of the oven can augment any brunch or lunch spread – hot soup, for instance, although the flavour of the fennel seeds is especially lovely with smoked salmon. Marking the loaf with a cross before it goes into the oven is believed to ward off the devil and protect the household. Tradition and symbolism aside, doing this before it goes into the oven allows for more even baking – a good enough reason for me.

Ingredients

400g plain white flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1½ tsp baking soda
1½ tsp fine sea salt (or 2 tsp flaky sea salt)
50g rolled oats
2 tbsp light brown sugar
2 tbsp fennel seeds
300ml buttermilk

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200C (180C fan-forced). Line an oven tray with baking paper (or grease the tray with a little olive oil) and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the oats, brown sugar and fennel seeds, then use your hands to combine, making sure the ingredients are well distributed. Make a well in the centre and add the buttermilk. Using a wooden spoon (or even better, your hands, formed like a claw), stir to combine, starting from the centre and gradually drawing in more flour as you go, until you get a rough dough. Add a little water – up to 50ml – if it looks a bit dry, and continue to mix until it all comes together in one mass.
3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured worktop and knead very briefly, just until it forms a rough ball. Transfer onto the centre of the lined baking tray, then make a cross-shaped indentation halfway into the dough using the long handle of a wooden spoon.
4. Bake for about 40 minutes or until deep golden brown. The bottom of the loaf should sound hollow when cooked through. Serve while still warm.
Tip: Throw in a handful of currants or sliced dried figs to convert this into a semi-sweet loaf, to be toasted and buttered for breakfast.
Find more of Helen Goh's recipes in the Good Food Favourite Recipes cookbook.