4 ozs of Self Raising Flour
1 oz wholemeal flour
2 ozs bran
1 level teaspoon baking soda
3 ozs soft butter
3 ozs sultanas
1 egg, beaten
5 oz carton of fruit yoghurt
1 orange, rind and 2 tablespoons of juice
4 ozs soft brown sugar
½ level teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of salt
Rub the butter into the flours, then add all the remaining ingredients.
Put into a greased 2 lb loaf tin and bake for 45 minutes. Cool in the tin for ten minutes and then turn out onto cooling rack until it is cold.
Today I take a trip down memory lane.. It is a very long lane.
52 years ago this week, I had my very first official cookery lesson. I had been cooking and helping in the kitchen at mammy’s side for many years before that.
This first lesson was at school. Today I reproduce that recipe.
Rock buns. Preheat the oven to 200°C
225g self raising flour
Pinch salt
100g butter
75g mixed dried fruit
25g mixed candied peel
50g caster sugar
1 egg size 3
Milk to mix
Mix the flour and salt and rub in the butter.
Stir in the dried fruit, mixed peel and sugar.
Mix to a stiff dough with egg and milk.
Place in rough spoonfuls on a greased baking sheet
Bake for 10-15 minutes.
Mammy’s bread making implements were a large baking bowl, a tablespoon, a teaspoon and a bone handled table knife for mixing the dough. We had no scales back then so it was handfuls or spoonfuls. It worked well.
Brown Wheaten Bread Preheat oven to 190°C
4 ozs plain flour – (1 mammy’s handful)
12 ozs wheaten meal (3 Mammy’s handfuls)
1 level teaspoon bread soda (bicarbonate) that is what mammy called it!
Pinch of salt
Pinch of sugar
1 oz margarine
½ egg + buttermilk
Sift Plain flour, bicarbonate of soda & salt in a bowl. Rub in margarine. Add wheaten meal and sugar and mix with the white flour. Make well in centre add beaten egg and buttermilk and mix well. Flour 2lb loaf tin and pour in mixture. Even out and mark into quarters.
Bake for 45 minutes
Test – The bread is cooked when it sounds hollow to a tap on the base of the loaf. Remove from tin, wrap in clean tea towel and leave on cake rack to cool.
No! Daddy did not cook, bake or boil the kettle. He did eat and this bread was a favourite.
You might know it as:
White Soda Bread Preheat oven to 180°C – 190°C
1 lb self raising flour (4 Mammy’s handfuls)
Pinch salt
Pinch sugar
1½ ozs butter or margarine
½ egg + buttermilk
Mix the flour, salt and sugar in a bowl and rub in the butter or margarine. Add the egg and buttermilk reserving a little for brushing the top. Knead lightly on a floured surface and transfer to tin or baking sheet. (Mammy always used sandwich tins for her bread to give a uniform shape.
Run a knife across the top of the dough at right angles to form a cross. Brush with egg and milk.
Bake for 45 minutes.
Once baked (test by tapping on the base of the loaf, it should sound hollow) mammy always wrapped the bread in a clean teatowel and set it on a cooling rack.
* I often cut into the bread while it was still warm, I was the only one to get away with it!
Warm Daddy’s bread fresh from the oven with home made raspberry jam…. heaven on a plate! 😀
** This bread is best on the day of baking and it is NOT a candidate for freezing. Perhaps this is why Mammy made one cake of white bread and two brown (wheaten) every day.
In my post last Tuesday I mentioned scones. Some of my American friends are unsure of what Irish scones are like or how they are made. Well Grannymar aims to please, so I called on good old YouTube and found this:-
Everyone has their own recipe and below I give you mine.
Scones Preheat the oven to 200°C
8ozs Plain Flour
2-teaspoon Baking Powder
¼ teaspoon of Cream of Tartar
½ teaspoon Salt
2oz Butter or Margarine.
Approx. ¼ pint of Milk
A small Egg, beaten
Sift the flour, salt, baking powder and cream of tartar together.
Rub in the butter or margarine until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs and then mix to firm-ish dough with the milk and about half of the egg.
On a floured surface, pat the mixture out to a thickness of about 1in and cut the scones, either with a knife or a circular cutter.
Place on a floured baking tray and brush the tops with milk mixed with the remaining egg.
Bake in a pre-heated oven for 12-15 minutes.Cool on a wire tray.
Variations:-
Fruit scones – Add 2oz sultanas.
Cherry Scones – Add 2ozs cherries, halved
Cheese Scones – Add 2ozs cheese, grated
For a special treat try Raspberries and White Chocolate.
Steep the fruit, nuts and sugar in the tea overnight.Sieve the flour add the mixed spice.Beat the egg.Stir the flour, egg and whiskey into the fruit and mix well. Pour into a 7 inch greased tin.Bake in a preheated oven for 1¾ hour’s approx.Test if a clean skewer comes out clean then the Brack is cooked.Cool in tin on wire rack.
The Supermarkets are all at it right now, so why not Grannymar. So to celebrate the holiday season we have two for the price of one. They are both very simple but require steeping the fruit and cereal overnight.
1 cup* All Bran
1 cup* soft brown sugar
1 cup* mixed dried fruit
Steep overnight in 1 cup of milk
Add 1 cup* Self Raising flour & mix well.
Pour into greased 2lb loaf tin and bake in a preheated oven at 160° for about 1½ hours or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cover the loaf with greaseproof paper for the last half hour.
* Deborah uses the following explanation for a cup measurement:
A cup is an American volume measure of eight fluid ounces. Use a mixing jug with fluid ounces on the side and fill to the 8oz mark, to measure one cup each of flour, sugar, fruit and All Bran. It’s a rough estimate that cannot be converted to grams accurately. Once you get used to using this system it becomes extremely easy!
3 Weetabix
6-8ozs mixed dried fruit
6-8ozs dark brown sugar
¾ pint of milk
Steep overnight
Add 8ozs Self Raising flour & mix well.
Pour into greased 2lb loaf tin and bake in a preheated oven at 160° for about 1½ hours or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cover the loaf with greaseproof paper for the last half hour.
Steph, I wonder if this recipe works with Ready Brek.
This recipe has been around since Elly’s first term in Home Economics. Adding the nuts was the only change I made.
Banana Loaf Preheat oven to 190°C
150gr plain flour
50gr wheaten meal (Wholemeal)
100gr sugar
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
100gr butter or margarine
2 eggs beaten
2 Bananas mashed.
A few walnuts chopped (optional)
Sift all the dry ingredients. Add the eggs, butter or margarine and banana and nuts.
Mix well. Pour into a prepared 2lb loaf tin.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes.
I came across this recipe while looking for ideas to post. I first tasted these scones about 28 years ago. It was a new one for me at that time. Treacle scones make a change from the more usual plain, fruit or wheaten. Not being a butter fan I like them with jam (jelly). The dough is very soft.
Treacle Scones Preheat oven to 200° C
8ozs Plain Flour
½ teaspoon Bicarbonate Soda
1oz Margarine
1 teaspoon Cream of Tartar
1oz Sugar
½ teaspoon Mixed Spice
½ tsp Cinnamon
Pinch Salt
¼ pint Milk
1 tablespoon Black Treacle
Sift flour, bread soda, cream of tartar & salt in a bowl. Add mixed spice & cinnamon. Rub in the margarine until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs, and then add the sugar. Mix the treacle with the milk. Make a well in the flour mixture pour on the milk and mix well (softer than normal dough). Roll out carefully onto floured board and cut into squares. Place on a floured baking tray and brush the tops with milk. Bake in a pre-heated oven for 12-15 minutes.
Brown bread was a staple food for all of my life. There was only one day in the year when mammy didn’t bake it, that was Christmas Day. I have used and abused changed this recipe over the past 30 years.
In my young days mammy used Odlums Wheatenmeal and it was a nice coarse mix. Over the years we noticed the meal became finer. Liking a coarse loaf we changed to Howards One Way extra course Wheatenmeal. I have never found it in Northern Ireland so I replenish stocks when I go south. Visitors coming north are trained to check if I need some before travelling to see me.
Wheaten Bread Preheat oven to 200° C
12ozs Wheaten Meal
4ozs Plain flour
2 tablespoons Bran or Oat flakes
1oz Margarine
¾ tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
½ tsp Salt
½ tsp Cream of tartar
11ozs Buttermilk
½ of one Egg beaten
1oz Sesame Seeds
1oz Sunflower Seeds
1oz Pumpkin Seeds
Sift Plain flour, bicarbonate of soda, cream of tartar & salt in a bowl. Rub in margarine. Add wheaten meal, seeds & either the bran or Oat flakes. Make well in centre add beaten egg and buttermilk and mix well. Flour 2lb loaf tin and pour in mixture. Even out and mark into quarters. Bake in a preheated oven for about 20 minutes, reduce heat to 180°C and continue cooking for a further 30 minutes. Test – cooked when sounds hollow to a tap on the base of the loaf. Remove from tin, wrap in clean tea towel and leave on cake rack to cool.
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Wheaten bread freezes well. I double the quantity and make two loaves at a time. When they are cold I half the loaves and freeze three portions. If I pull one out of the freezer at night it is well thawed for breakfast.
