Jack's Oat and Stout Soda Bread

Soda bread is very quick to make and delicious too! A cross between a bread and a scone, the reaction of bicarbonate of soda with the acidity of the buttermilk is what gives it rise, and because of this it will naturally be a more dense bread. "Stout gives a really deep flavour, and I love the toasty oat biscuity-ness that comes from using oat flour," says Jack. "I always make my own by putting rolled oats into a food processor, that way I can keep it nice and coarse."

Ingredients

• 300 g plain flour
• 200 g oat flour plus extra oats
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tbsp soft brown sugar
• 200 g stout
• 150 g buttermilk

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C.
2. Weigh all the dry ingredients into a bowl and mix together well, make sure there are no lumps of sugar left.
3. Mix the stout and buttermilk together in a jug, and get a baking tray ready with parchment paper on top.
4. As soon as you add the liquid to the dry mix the reaction will begin, so it is really important to get everything mixed up nice and quick after that. Pour everything in and swiftly mix it all together into a dough, be delicate with it and stop when it is only just mixed to be sure not to overwork it.
5. Tip the dough onto a floured surface and shape into a ball. Brush the top with water and sprinkle some oats on top to stick.
6. Transfer the ball to your baking tray and cut a deep cross in the top, all the way to the edges. Bake straight away at 190° for 40 minutes.
7. Cool on a wire rack.