National Homemade Bread Day 2024

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Let’s bake…
The tantalising smell of freshly baked bread is one of the most nostalgic and irresistible aromas for all of us and even though I’ve been baking bread all of my adult life and most of my childhood I still get a buzz every time I take a crusty loaf out of the oven and so do all the 12 Week students at BCS. They learn how to make ten to fifteen different breads while they are with us.
Soda breads take minutes to make. For flatbreads, all you need is a heavy frying pan or griddle, you don’t even need an oven so they are also perfect for students who may have limited facilities in their accommodation.
Sourdough can be fitted into your particular routine, here at the Ballymaloe Cookery School, we make a 48 hour fermented loaf that spends most of its time in the fridge and is baked first thing in the morning which works brilliantly for us.
The starter can be frozen or dehydrated which is really helpful if your lifestyle dictates that you can only be a random baker.  Here at the Cookery School anything from ten to twenty students from the group turn up to the Bread Shed at 6am in the morning for what is an extracurricular activity – how about that enthusiasm?
Many become total sourdough nerds, monitoring and comparing their loaves every day, endlessly in search of the perfect sourdough loaf.
Good bread is super important for all of our families’ health. I’m on record as saying on live TV that if I was Minister for Health the first thing I would do for the health of the nation is to ban the ultra-processed sliced pan and I haven’t changed my mind since. Is it a coincidence that the number of gluten allergies and intolerances are growing exponentially? Check the label…
Here at the cookery school, where many students arrive convinced that they need to be gluten-free, discover that they can happily eat our natural, fermented sourdough made with organic flour. When they eat ‘sliced pan’ from the shops, all the symptoms return.
For bread baking at home, do go out of your way to find organic, chemical free flour.
Soda bread is the bread of our country and is literally made in minutes. Scones will be out of the oven in little more than 10 minutes, a crusty loaf takes 30 to 35 minutes, and a ‘tin loaf’ will take all of an hour, it takes time but not your time. The actual mixing takes mere minutes, so much joy for so little effort and nothing’s changed, the way to everyone’s heart is through their tummy…Don’t we all love Mum’s soda bread.
Here are a few recipes to get you started. A few weeks ago, I included a recipe for Max Rocha’s Guinness Bread from his Café Cecilia cookbook – see column 19th October 2024. If you haven’t already tried it, it’s super delicious and keeps very well. Max can’t take it off the menu in Café Cecilia in Hackney. Book ahead if you’re going to London, open for lunch from Wednesday to Sunday and dinner from Wednesday to Saturday but you’ll definitely need to book ahead – www.cafececilia.com  
November 17th 2024 is National Homemade Bread Day, let’s celebrate passing on the skills to all the family by making some crusty loaves of bread. Baking is an exact science so make sure to weigh your ingredients accurately, otherwise you’ll have a very inconsistent and disappointing result.
Here are a few recipes to get you started. I’ve included the recipe for traditional white soda bread in response to many requests received, but there are many, many more easy and well tested recipes including a brilliant gluten-free chapter by Debbie Shaw in The New Ballymaloe Bread Book published by Gill Books in 2023.

Ballymaloe Bread Shed Sourdough

Made by the Folding Method 

Makes 1 loaf

Remember “Sourdough bread is an inconsistent medium of nature”.

Every loaf will be slightly different depending on the activity of the starter. 

Making a loaf of sourdough bread by this method is a three day process which once you get started, will soon become a routine part of your day.

Ballymaloe Sourdough Starter

It will take approximately seven days to establish an active sourdough starter before you make your first loaf. Once the starter is established, it’s only a matter of feeding. Remember it’s live and just like us, it gets hungry…

Starter Tips

  • Your starter should smell distinctively beery, slightly yeasty and fermented, and it should be thick and bubbly. It may become thin and bubbly or develop a layer of grey liquid on top, a sign it’s hungry. 
  • Starter grows best at comfortable room temperature (18-21°C).
  •  If the starter is too thick to beat easily, add a little more water.
  • The flavour will grow more complex with use and age.
  • Once the sourdough starter is established, depending on how lively the starter is, making a loaf of sourdough bread from start to finish will take anywhere from 24 to 48 hours.
  • Remember yeast freezes perfectly. 

How to make a natural sourdough starter.

Day 1: Choose a large airtight 500ml to 1 litre Kilner jar.

Put 60g of cold water and 60g of organic strong white flour (bakers’ flour) into the jar, mix well with a long handled spoon. Close the jar and leave at room temperature for 24 hours.

Day 2: You should begin to see some bubbles at this stage, add 60g cold water and 60g organic strong white flour (bakers’ flour). Mix well, close the jar and leave for 24 hours at room temperature

Day 3: Add 60g cold water and 60g organic strong white flour (bakers’ flour). Mix well, close the jar and leave for 24 hours at room temperature.

Day 4: Add 60g cold water and 60g organic strong white flour (bakers’ flour). Mix well, close the jar and leave for 24 hours at room temperature.

Day 5: Add 50g cold water and 50g organic strong white flour (bakers’ flour). Mix well, close the jar and leave for 24 hours at room temperature.

Day 6: Add 60g cold water and 60g organic strong white flour (bakers’ flour). Mix well, close the jar and leave for 24 hours at room temperature.

Your sourdough starter will now be very runny and bubbly, it’s hungry and ready to proceed to the next stage. 

Day 7

Reduce the starter in the jar to about 100g (discard the excess starter or use to make sourdough crackers). Thicken it with about 50g to 100g of organic strong white flour (bakers’ flour). Give it a 2nd feeding of 140g of cold water. Stir in well. Add 140g of organic strong white flour (bakers’ flour), stir well and allow to stand overnight. This is very much weather dependent (you may leave it out in the Winter or refrigerate in the Summer) it should be thick and bubbly, a good indication is if it floats in water, this is the stage we now call “a sponge” “a levain” or “biga”, “an active yeast” ready to use. 

The more you use it the stronger it gets, in fact, the first few loves may be disappointing, but please persevere. 

Day 8

Next morning. 

The sponge should be thick and bubbly.

114g sourdough starter/natural levain

334g warm water

100g Doves organic malt flour 

337g white organic bread flour

33g organic dark rye flour

5g wheat germ  

OR 

476g Ballymaloe Bread Shed flour mix

In a large bowl, mix all the above ingredients to a loose dough. Rest uncovered at room temperature for 20-30 minutes.

Add 11g of pure salt.

Feed the starter.

While the mixture is resting, feed the starter by adding 50g of cold water plus 80g of organic strong white flour (bakers’ flour).

If you plan to make a batch of bread the following day, allow to stand at room temperature for 2-3 hours, then return to the fridge. Otherwise, return to the fridge immediately after feeding which will slow down the yeast activity.

In order to develop the gluten in the bread dough, you will need to stretch and fold the dough every 20-30 minutes for 3 hours. Be very gentle in the beginning, so as not to tear the dough. The gluten will start to develop, and you will be able to stretch it quite far. 

After 3 hours, place into a covered bowl for 24 hours in the fridge.

Day 9

Next day.

Transfer the dough from the bowl onto the counter. Knock back by kneading lightly with both your hands, tighten into a large ‘bun’. Allow to relax uncovered for 10-15 minutes. With a dough scraper, flip over onto the counter. Knock back once again and fold the dough in on itself. Turn over with the fold underneath and tighten into a large ‘bun’ once again. Transfer upside down into a cloth lined banneton and leave, covered in the fridge for another 24 hours.

Day 10

Following day.

For baking sourdough.

We recommend using a Dutch oven, or other cast iron pots. 

Preheat to 260°C/Gas Mark 10.

Put the Dutch oven into the oven to preheat.

When fully preheated (approx. 30 minutes), with thick oven gloves, remove the pot from the oven. Line the base of the pot with a round of parchment paper and gently lower the dough into the pot. Slash the top with a sharp knife. Replace the hot lid on the pot and return to the oven. Reduce the temperature to 230°C and set the timer for 25 minutes. Then remove the lid and continue to bake for further 10-15 minutes, until dark golden brown.

When cooked, the bread will feel light and sound hollow when tapped on the base with your fingers.

Cool on a wire rack.

Cut with a serrated bread knife and enjoy!

Traditional Irish White Soda Bread and Scones

By popular request my white soda bread recipe but if you’d rather make a brown loaf, use half wholemeal and half white flour.

Soda bread only takes 2 or 3 minutes to make and 30-40 minutes to bake, scones will be ready in just 10 minutes.

It is certainly another of my ‘great convertibles’. We have had the greatest fun experimenting with different additions and uses. The possibilities are endless for the hitherto humble soda bread. This bread which was originally baked in a pot oven called a bastible over the open fire can also be cooked in a casserole in the oven, to produce a similar result.

Makes 1 loaf

450g plain white flour

1 level tsp salt

1 level tsp bread soda

sour milk or buttermilk to mix, 350-400ml approx.

First fully preheat your oven to 230°C/Gas Mark 8.

Sieve the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Make a well in the centre. Pour most of the milk in at once. Using just one hand to mix with your fingers stiff and outstretched, like a claw, mix in a full, circular movement from the centre to the outside of the bowl, adding more milk if necessary. The dough should be softish, not too wet and sticky. 

When it all comes together, turn it out onto a well-floured work surface. WASH AND DRY YOUR HANDS.

Then with floured hands, tidy it up and flip over gently. Pat the dough into a round, about 4cm deep and cut a cross on it (the traditional blessing), then prick in the four corners to let the fairies out of the bread, otherwise they will jinx it!

Transfer to a baking tray.

Bake in a hot oven, 230°C/Gas Mark 8 for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 200°C/Gas Mark 6 for 30 minutes or until cooked. If you are in doubt, tap the bottom of the bread, when it is cooked it will sound hollow.

Cool on a wire rack.

White Soda Scones

Make the dough as above but flatten the dough into a round 2.5cm deep approx. Cut into scones. Cook for 10-15 minutes approx. in a hot oven (230°C/Gas Mark 8) depending on size.

Baghrir from L’Hôtel Marrakech in Marrakech

These soft lacy flatbreads are beloved for breakfast in Morocco and other North African countries.  Kids love them too. The fermented batter is cooked on one side only.  These Moroccan ‘crepes’ are also called thousand-hole pancakes because of their honeycomb appearance. This recipe comes from L’Hôtel Marrakech in Morocco, one of my favourite places to stay in the whole world.

Makes 6

200g fine semolina

400ml tepid water

1 – 1 ½ tbsp (orange blossom water

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp caster sugar

pinch salt

½ tsp dried yeast

2 x 7g sachets of instant yeast

Put all the ingredients except the yeast in a blender and whizz for 5 minutes, until bubbles appear. Add the dried yeast and blend for a further 2 minutes. Allow the mixture to stand for about 5 minutes, until the mixture looks foamy, before starting to cook.

Heat a 12cm pan over medium heat. Fill a 75ml ladle with batter, pour it into the pan and gently tilt to cover the base.  Cook for 3-4 minutes, until all the bubbles burst, and the surface looks dry.

Serve three or four baghrir on a warm plate with a mixture of equal quantities of melted butter and honey.  

About the author

Darina Allen
By Darina Allen

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