Baking for Beginners: Soda Bread

I'm on a bit of a baking kick at the moment. There's really nothing that beats the smell of a freshly baked loaf wafting out of the oven. Despite what you might think, making bread really isn't difficult, and there's something very satisfying about baking your own.

However, if you're feeling a bit lazy, you're in a last minute panic or you're a bread virgin, soda bread is a great recipe to have up your sleeve. Instead of using yeast to make the bread rise, soda bread uses bicarbonate of soda. This means it requires less kneading and it's much quicker to work with.

Soda Bread
You'll need:

• 150g wholemeal flour
• 150g plain flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 250ml buttermilk

Make it!

• Preheat your oven to 200c / Gas 6. 
• Sieve both flours into a bowl to remove any lumps. Add the salt and bicarbonate of soda.
• Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the buttermilk. Mix it with one hand (in case the phone rings and you need a clean one!) until it comes together to form a dough.
• Knead it a little.
• Form the dough into a ball, put on a baking tray and bake for 30-40 minutes. It should have a nice brown crust and sound hollow if you tap it on the bottom when it's done.