Ballymaloe Brown Yeast Bread
This is a very traditional Irish bread. It would be seen on most menus along with a soda bread of some sort. It’s dense, rich in flavour, and so good for you. I love it, but it’s a bread that really has to be eaten within a day or two. Delicious with soup, as the base for different canapes or as a sandwich bread (makes 1 x 450g loaf).
50g strong white flour
450ml warm water
1 tsp molasses
1 tsp salt
25g fresh yeast (13g dried)
seeds for the top
sunflower oil
Mix the flour with the salt in a large mixing bowl.
In a small jug, mix the water, molasses and yeast together, leave for 4-5 minutes.
Make a well in the center of the flour, add the water, mix to a loose dough. The mixture should be too wet to knead. Cover and leave for 10 minutes in the bowl (the dough will begin to slightly ferment).
Meanwhile generously brush the tin with sunflower oil.
Scoop the mixture into the tin, cover and leave to rise to the top of the tin.
Sprinkle the loaf with seeds, if you wish.
Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes. Turn the heat down to 400F and bake for a further 40-50 minutes. If you want the crust to evenly browned, remove the loaf from the tin for the last 5-10 minutes.
The loaf should sound hollow on the bottom when tapped. Leave to cool on a wire rack.