Kale and Cheddar Soda Bread

Kale and Cheddar Soda Bread

Crusty, crunchy and perfect for dunking

There is nothing like the smell of freshly baked bread drifting through the house, a comforting, warm and cosy welcome. As lovely as that is, making fresh bread is an investment in time that is not always possible. Soda bread is the answer! A sweeter, slightly denser bake that has a lot in common with scones, soda bread is a fast and satisfying, perfect for colder weather.
Soda bread’s superpower is that it requires less working as a dough, minimal shaping, no rising or proving. It is a bread that can be ready to eat within the hour. 
With its robust structure and chemical raising agent, soda bread is an ideal choice for flavouring with wetter and chunkier ingredients. In this case kale brings a delicious earthy richness to the flavour, heightened by the addition of a little rye flour, then salty cheddar rounds the flavour off.

Makes 8 buns from 2 loaves
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Ingredients:
120g curly kale
440g strong white flour
60g rye flour
1 tsp sea salt flakes
A dozen twists on the pepper mill
¼ of a nutmeg, grated
20g baking powder
1 dessert spoon of honey
300g milk
1 tbs apple cider vinegar
80g strong cheddar, grated
Preheat oven to 220°C 

1. Adding any leafy vegetable into bread plays around with the hydration. Blanching the kale first is essential. Bring a sauce pan of water to the boil, strip the kale from it stem and cook in the water for 2 minutes with the lid on. Drain and refresh under running cold water until cool enough to handle. 
2. Buttermilk is a staple for soda bread, delivering a wonderfully tart flavour. An easy way to replicate this is to add the table spoon of apple cider vinegar to the milk and leave to stand for 5 minutes. 
3. White the milk is curdling, squeeze out as much water from the kale as possible and roughly chop.
4. Now mix the dry ingredients together, add the honey and then the milk. Bring together and work the dough for 5 minutes either by hand or in a machine. This is a stiff dough as the kale will add extra hydration. 
5. After 5 minutes, incorporate the kale followed by the cheddar. Then turn out onto a lightly floured worktop.
6. Divide the dough into two and shape into rounds. Flatten to about 5cm and cut a cross in the top of each loaf, almost all the way through. 
7. Line a baking tray with parchment and bake the loaves on this un the preheated oven for 25 minutes.
Chef Notes:
1. Nuts are a really nice addition to this recipe as well as seeds. A scant handful of pumpkin seeds or chopped walnuts enhance the flavour while giving a lovely texture.
2. A milk glaze will give a pleasant matt sheen to the finished bake.
3. Once cooked, the segments of each loaf can be pulled apart and frozen for another day. 

Robin Popham
Chef at ‘Create Terroir’ and Sandy Lane Farm veg box customer