Taking superfood to new heights

We ran out of bread this weekend (possibly something to do with all the ‘taste-testing’ that was so necessary for my last post on homemade Nutella). Normally it’s frustrating, but I’ve been doing lots of nostalgic flicking back through recipe books recently, and came across this speedy, delicious recipe from Elly Curshen’s first book, Fast Days and Feast Days.

I love this book, partially because I dip into a 5:2 regime from time to time, but also because you can ignore the principles of the diet and still get so much out of it. The photography is beautiful, and waste is minimal – a massive tick as far as I’m concerned.

This bread is filling, moreish and super tasty, and can be as full of goodness as you like. It also takes literally minutes to prepare. As you can see, mine turned out a wee bit misshapen, but imperfection is another one of my favourite things about homemade bread. This recipe is a loose adaptation of the recipe in Fast Days and Feast Days – I hope you love it as much as I did!

Superfood Soda Bread

Ingredients

225g plain flour
225g strong white or wholemeal flour
1 heaped tsp bicarbonate of soda
A squeeze of lemon juice
2 tbsp soft brown sugar
A handful of mixed seeds, plus a big pinch to scatter on top (Holland and Barrett do massive bags for relatively cheap that you can store in a jar for whenever you need them)
A handful of mixed nuts, toasted and roughly chopped (ditto re Holland and Barrett)
500ml whole milk with a tsp lemon juice stirred in
1 tsp sea salt (ideally flaked), plus a big pinch for scattering on top
A big pinch of Cornish Sea Salt’s Sea Pepper (this stuff is amazing – you can buy it here)
30g melted butter

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C
2. Put all of the dry ingredients (except for the extra seeds and salt to sprinkle on top) into a big mixing bowl and make a well in the centre.
3. Pour in the milk mixture and stir together until loosely combined (as if it was a muffin mixture).
4. Brush a loaf tin with some of the melted butter, keeping some back.
5. Add the batter to the tin, and pour over the remaining melted butter. Sprinkle with the remaining seeds and flaked sea salt.
6. Turn the oven down to 150°C and, after turning the loaf around in the oven, bake for another 20 minutes or so. It’s done when a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean.
7. Cool on a wire rack, and serve in slices, spread with butter.

This recipe is an adaptation from Elly Curshen’s Fast Days and Feast Days, on page 35.