A New Discovery

I like bread. I shouldn’t, but I do. But I like it for more than its taste — It’s easier and takes less time and effort to make than beer. Which I would do if I could.

I don’t have a very good oven. Conditions aren’t the best. And I’m an amateur who doesn’t know anything about baking. For all I know, I’m making a massive mistake by…whatever. But I’m getting better at it, bit by bit (although I’ve failed miserably and gone through all of my rye flour trying to make an ale bread that looks more like a cow pie when it’s done than a “loaf” of bread).

I discovered recently that buttermilk in the commissary is actually in the frozen section near the waffles. When I found this out, I remembered that there was a bread recipe I’d seen somewhere that called for it — soda bread — and I wanted to give it a try. A little bit of chemistry at work, different than the kind that happens with yeast. Soda bread relies on the chemical reaction between the buttermilk and a teaspoon or two of baking soda to get its rise, which means it’s super easy and doesn’t take as long to make because you don’t have to wait hours for the yeast to work. It also gets a bit of different flavor from the buttermilk itself.

So I made this soda bread, and it wasn’t bad…and then I put some butter and honey on it when it was still warm, and it was quite excellent. I can see this bread happening again. Micha liked it and wants me to add walnuts and cranberries.

But first, I’m doing a loaf of Stout Bread right now, which is a soda bread recipe that uses a stout as part of its liquid along with the buttermilk. Just took it out of the oven, and it’s too close to bedtime for me to see how it turns out taste-wise. But I’m happy that it took me all of an hour and a half from start to finish, and I’m sure it’ll be good enough to mow down rather quickly (like its predecessor loaf of soda bread, which was half gone before it had fully cooled). It looks awful, but I didn’t get the feeling that it was supposed to be a thing of beauty.

We’ll see where this hobby goes. I’ve got to find experts and teachers who can show me a few things, but I’ll keep working at it on my own for now and see what comes out. I’ve got a decent wheat bread recipe, and my last effort was my best yet. Who knows, maybe I’ll be able to do that ale rye bread someday.