Best Irish Soda Bread

I've never been able to recreate the amazing brown bread that I enjoyed in Ireland, but after after six attempts, this is the best recipe that I've tried. I've never been much of a fan of the tasteless white loaves that are standard in the UK, and I don't much like the way that they are produced either (often with acid accelerators so that large quantities can be made quickly, but this has the consequence of making the bread harder to digest and far less delicious)

This is a very quick bread to make as no yeast is required, but the only downside to homemade bread is that it invariably spoils quicker, so it's best to eat it the day it is made, or the day after, toasted. 

I really do think that soda bread is my favourite bread of all, (perhaps apart from ciabatta). It's wholesome and filling, with a splendid nuttiness and earthiness that is hard to find in other breads, it's a bread with character and sustenance. Here's the recipe:

Irish Soda Bread

Recipe from Farmette

Ingredients: 

275g/10oz  coarse wholemeal flour
175g/6oz plain white flour
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 
25g/1oz butter, at room temperature, diced
3/4 pint/ 400ml buttermilk 
1 large egg
1 tbsp runny honey
Rolled oats to sprinkle 

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6. Sieve the plain flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a mixing bowl. Stir in the wholemeal. 

2. Rub or cut in the butter until the mixture becomes crumbly. Whisk the egg, together with the buttermilk and honey. 

3. Make a well in the center of the flour and add the liquid in and mix together. Pour into a greased loaf tin (I used a 4lb tin greased lightly with some vegetable oil) and cut a line down the middle. Sprinkle with a handful of oats if you want. Bake for 40-45 minutes. Slice once cool enough to cut.