Heavy Bread

Heavy Irish Bread.




Mix the following....

200g of plain white flour
350g of wholewheat flour
50g of wheatbran
25g of wheatgerm
2 heaped teaspoons of baking powder
half a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon of salt



Add

1 tablespoon of sesame seeds
1 tablespoon of poppy seeds
2 tablespoons of sunflower seeds
2 tablespoon of linseeds
2 tablespoons of pumpkin seeds
2 tablespoons of unshelled hemp seeds



mix it all up



Add one tablespoon of molasses or treacle



and 650ml of water



mix well
(it will be very sticky but it's supposed to be)
then empty into a 2lb loaf tin.



bake at 180C for 1 hour then test with a skewer and if it's still sticky bake it for another 10 minutes or until the skewer comes out clean.




Allow to cool on a wire rack then smother a slice with marmalade and enjoy with a cup of tea.



notes;

* any seeds in any quantities will do really, as long as they add up to about 10 or 12 tablespoons. I love unshelled hemp seeds because they're so crunchy and have a delicious nutty taste but I've yet to make a loaf of bread that hasn't had at least a few very mouldy tasting ones in it. Those few seeds are horrible but they haven't killed me and I feel that they're an adequate price to pay for the yummy ones. If you object to the occasional mouldy mouthful you might want to replace them with something less high risk.

* the bread will keep for three days maximum before it starts to go bad. If you won't eat it that fast then cutting it into slices and then freezing it is a good idea as it makes delicious toast, although it will resist. This is hardcore bread which needs a firm hand, toast it once to defrost it then twice more to turn it crispy. Do not give it, do not show weakness, you tell that bread who's the boss.

*it's not necessary to line the tin with baking parchment, I don't think that the bread sticks. I just don't trust non-stick coating and I haven't managed to find a bread tin that isn't non-sticky yet.

* this recipe is adapted from Avoca's multiseed brown bread with fruit recipe. My version has more seeds and no dried apricots or sultanas. It's vegan and it comes out of the oven cooked rather than raw in the middle. It's better.

. image by me