Mummy’s Brown Soda Bread and Raspberry Jam

Soda Bread

 Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 ¾ cups buttermilk

Directions:

Bread

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Mix the flours in a large wide bowl, then stir in the salt and baking soda. Lift the flour up with your fingers to distribute the ingredients evenly. Make a well in the center of the flour and pour in the buttermilk. With your fingers stiff and outstretched like a claw stir in a circular movement from the center to the outside of the bowl in ever-increasing concentric circles. When you reach the outside of the bowl seconds later, the dough is made.

Sprinkle a little flour on the countertop. Turn the dough out onto the counter. You’re your hand, and coat them hands with flour and gently form the dough into a large ball, tucking under the edges. Pat the dough gently to flatten it slightly into a round loaf about 1 ½ inches thick. Transfer the dough to a baking sheet. With a thin knife, gently cut a deep cross into the bread and then prick it in the center of each of the four sections.

Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven; then reduce the heat to 400 and continue baking for another 15 minutes. Turn the bread upside down and cook for a further 5 to 10 minutes, until the bread sounds hollow when tapped. Cool on a rack.

Raspberry Jam

Ingredients

• equal amounts of fresh raspberries and granulated sugar

Directions

Put the raspberries into a wide, shallow baking dish and sprinkle with sugar. Cook for 20 minutes in a 350 degree oven, until very hot but not boiling. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon. Ladle this mixture into sterilized jars. Cover and store in a cool, dry place.

Note: For this recipe, I used 6 cups raspberries and 4 ½ sugar. If yours comes out a little runny call it raspberry sauce!