So tonight I’ve decided to take a little unusual turn and instead of reviewing a whiskey……I’ve decided to share with you all a little recipe for some grand wholesome homemade brown bread! Why on a whiskey blog though I hear you shout! Don’t worry, I’m not wasting your time! This brown bread is Irish and just like an Irish Coffee, the same ingredient makes the bread Irish!! Nothing like a little splash of whiskey in your bread mixture to add a kick to your open sandwich!
So the recipe is simple. I am no accomplished baker but I would happily weigh my bread against some of the best so you too can do it! As you’ll see in one of the photos, I do have one of those electric stand mixers (well…..herself does) but it’s not really needed. Any hand mixer will do! All the rest of the ingredients are in most baking presses in homes across the country so see what you can root out and give it a try!
Ingredients
- 200g plain white flour
- 250g wholemeal flour
- 1 teaspoon of bread soda
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1 egg
- 350 to 400ml of buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon of golden syrup
- 50ml of Irish Whiskey
Before starting make sure you have washed everything down thoroughly. Even if it was used the day before, give it a quick clean.
Fire on the oven to 200 degrees C (Gas mark 6) and let it heat up and be ready for your mix.
Weigh up the flour as close as you can to the 200g and 250g as indicated above and mix them by hand while they are dry (make sure your bowl is dry for this).
Sieve the bread soda into the mixture and add the salt. Again give them a dry mix and create a small well in the center of the mix.
Next up, add the egg but give it a light whisk with a fork first to break up the yoke (that’s the orange bit in the center!) and then the butter milk. Start with 350ml first and if its needed later you can add more. Finally drop in a teaspoon of golden syrup or honey.
Now its time to get mixing. The more you mix it the better so if you’re doing it my hand…..get the elbow grease going! Once you are happy it is fully mixed, add 50ml of Irish whiskey. Start with the 50ml measure and if you wish, you can add more after you’ve tasted it. Adding too much can overpower the bread so don’t go all in with more then 50ml at first. I generally use Jameson but I have found that Kilbeggan works very well too. Try a few different ones…..research is always good!
Now you need to mix again and this is important…..keep mixing until you are sure that the whiskey has mixed in with every part. The last thing you want is it to stay in one part of the bread mixture.
Next up grab your baking tin and give it a light coating of real butter. You can use oil instead but I find butter works best. Give a light covering all around the inside of the tin making sure you get into each corner.
Using a spatula or similar, heap the mixture into the tin, ensuring that it is level all around the tin.
Hot tip……wet a knife and use it to smooth out the mixture in the tin. The water will stop the gloopy mixture from sticking to the knife. This also helps if you need to scrap mixture off the spatula! Some people make a slight cut down the centre of the bread to allow it spread evenly when its rising but I don’t.
If you want to add sesame seeds you can sprinkle them on top now, but I leave them out. I find that it interferes with the whiskey taste! Now you can pop the tin into the oven and bake for 45 to 50 mins.
When the time is up, carefully remove the tin….remember….Hot things burn!! Give the bread a tap with your fingers. If it sounds hollow, then it is baked all the way through.
Final little trick is to remove the bread from the tin (it should just fall out) and to wrap it in a fresh, clean tea towel. This will stop the bread cooling too quick causing the crust to harden too much. Trust me…..it’s worth wrapping it. Leave it to cool for an hour and then unwrap the bread.
Its now ready to eat! If you are storing it just wrap it in some tinfoil to keep it fresh. You should be able to keep it for about 4 days….if you haven’t ate it all. Best served with some homemade sweet potato and red pepper soup and a decent covering of real butter!
That's Dram Good 