Buckwheat bastible soda bread
Ingredients
450g (2 1/2 Cup) Buckwheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 1/2tsp cream of tartar
1 1/2tbsp ghee, or butter
400ml (1 1/2Cup) water
Mix the flour in a large plastic food bag with the salt, bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar, and thoroughly mix by tossing around the dry mix in the bag.
Empty the flour mix into a large mixing bowl.
Cut up the ghee or butter into small pieces and sprinkle into the flour, knead into the flour using your hands, raising the flour into the air as you do so (to aerate the mix), until the butter appears to disappear in size, attempt to get as much flour involved in this process as possible.
Pour in the water in three stages, stirring each one using a wooden spoon and allowing plenty of time for the water to be incorporated into the flour – get as much ‘powdered’ flour as possible coated with water.
The result is a batter that is at the stiffer end of a sloppy mix, certainly not a dough.
Allow the batter to rest whilst the oven heats up (this aids incorporation, the stickiness of the buckwheat to activate, and aeration).
Place a greased and lined 8in (cm) round cake tin inside a 9.5in (24cm) casserole in the oven and preheat at 230C/450F/Gas Mk 8
Take the casserole out of the oven and pour the mix into the hot casserole, encouraging it out with the spoon, and put the casserole lid put on, place the casserole back in the oven and bake for 40mins, or until a skewer comes out clean (check the mid third of the bread especially carefully).
Carefully remove the bread from the cake tin, place on a wire cooling rack and cover with a tea towel (for a soft crust), or leave uncovered (for a harder, crisp crust), until cold, and then slice.
The result is a soft and springy bread with an open texture. The sloppy dough leads to an open, chewy crumb. The use of butter has a small effect on the keeping quality, but increases gas retention, hence volume.
As with all Gluten-Free breads, tit is best eaten on the first day, or sliced and frozen. However, the bread is edible on both a second and third day, although progressively ‘stiffening up’.
You can use the casserole on its own, it produces a flatter bread, almost like a pan fried flatbread, and takes only 35mins to bake. Adding more water for a sloppier batter allows for a smoother surface, but it will take longer to cook.
As I usually added egg in my previous Gluten Free breads, I decided to see what effect adding an egg substitute would produce. To my surprise it produced the best tasting soda bread that I’ve made to date.
Buckwheat and ground flaxseed bastible soda bread
Ingredients
450g (2 1/2 Cup) Buckwheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 1/2tsp cream of tartar
1 1/2tbsp ghee, or butter
I tbsp ground flaxseed and 3 tbsp boiling water
450ml (2 Cup) water
Mix the flour in a large plastic food bag with the salt, bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar, and thoroughly mix by tossing around the dry mix in the bag.
Empty the flour mix into a large mixing bowl.
Cut up the ghee or butter into small pieces and sprinkle into the flour, knead into the flour using your hands, raising the flour into the air as you do so (to aerate the mix), until the butter appears to disappear in size, attempt to get as much flour involved in this process as possible.
Place the ground flaxseed in a small mixing bowl; pour over the boiling water and mix, using a fork, to a ‘lightly beaten egg like ’consistency.
Add to the flour mix and incorporate using a wooden spoon, getting as much flour involved as possible.
Pour in the water in three stages, stirring each one and allowing plenty of time for the water to be incorporated into the flour – get as much ‘powdered’ flour as possible coated with water.
The result is a batter that is at the stiffer end of a sloppy mix, certainly not a dough.
Allow the batter to rest whilst the oven heats up (this aids incorporation, the stickiness of the buckwheat to activate, and aeration).
Place a greased and lined 8in (cm) round cake tin inside a 9.5in (24cm) casserole in the oven and preheat at 230C/450F/Gas Mk 8
Take the casserole out of the oven and pour the mix into the hot casserole, encouraging it out with the spoon, and put the casserole lid back on, place casserole in the oven and bake for 60mins, or until a skewer comes out clean (check the mid third of the bread especially carefully).
Carefully remove the bread from the cake tin, place on a wire cooling rack and cover with a tea towel (for a soft crust), or leave uncovered (for a harder, crisp crust), until cold, and then slice.
The result is a soft, moist and springy bread with an open texture. The sloppy dough leads to an open, chewy crumb. The use of butter has a small effect on the keeping quality, but increases gas retention, hence volume.
As with all Gluten-Free breads, it is best eaten on the first day, or sliced and frozen. However, the breads was edible on both a second and third day, although progressively ‘stiffening up’.
You can use the casserole on its own, it produces a flatter bread, almost like a pan fried flatbread, and takes only 55mins to bake. Adding more water for a sloppier batter allows for a smoother surface, but it will take longer to cook.
