Irish Brown Stout Bread

There are lots of recipes for this bread, some designer style and some simple! This one is the latter and I make it occasionally when there is a can of stout lurking in the back of the cupboard. 

I discovered it is amazing fried, the malty stout oozes from the slice and creates a delicious outer crust on the bread. It?s great served with a traditional Irish ?fry? of sausages, streaky rashers (bacon) free range fried eggs, black pudding and wild mushrooms if you are fortunate to have any. I?ve now made myself hungry with the above sentence, so I know what I?m having for dinner this evening! (of course I could be healthy & grill everything)??.

You will need:

10 oz wholemeal/wheaten flour

3 oz plain flour

3/4 tsp of soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tablespoon dark brown sugar

2 tablespoons pinhead oatmeal/porridge oats

150ml stout

110ml buttermilk

Oil a rectangular loaf tin, if you have the great invention that is a greaseproof loaf liner, skip oiling the tin. 

Preheat the oven to 230°C

Sieve the plain flour and bread soda then add the rest of the dry ingredients and then give a quick toss.

Mix the stout and buttermilk  in a jug, whisking to combine.

Make the well in the centre of the dry ingredients and mix to a wettish dough. Place the mix into the tin and with a wet hand smooth and spread into the edges.  With the side of your hand indent an inch hollow down the middle of the bread and sprinkle with sesame or sunflower seeds if you wish.

Bake on high for 10 mins then reduce the temperature to 180°C and continue to bake for a half an hour or so. When you give the base a knock and the sound is hollow, the bread is cooked.

Leave to cool in the tin for 15 minutes, then run a palette knife around the edges if you haven’t used a liner and turn out to cool on a wire rack. Let the bread cool completely before slicing.

Now where’s that frying pan………