Irish wheaten bread with a slight twist

Method
Prep:20min  ›  Cook:1hr  ›  Ready in:1hr20min 

1. Preheat oven to 200 C / Gas 6. Lightly grease or line a 23x12cm loaf tin.
2. Mix the flours together in a large mixing bowl.
3. Rub in the butter to the flours using your finger tips. Add the pink salt, kombu, baking powder and bicarb. Make a well in the centre and add the wet ingredients – the buttermilk, oil and maple syrup. Mix well with a wooden spoon and pour into lined loaf tin.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 180 C / Gas 4; rotate tin and bake another 30 minutes.
5. Allow loaf to cool on a wire rack before slicing. While cooling, cover with cling film or the baking paper to prevent the crust going to hard.

Ingredient notes

For the wholemeal flour mix I used rye, spelt, einkorn and seed and grain flours. I like to experiment with alternative ingredients so feel free to use the ingredients you have.

Kombu is a dried seaweed harvested off the Scottish coast where I currently live and work.

The maple syrup I use is an alternative to sugar and seems to give the bread a dark colour that I like, but you can use sugar or honey instead. I'm not a fan of the taste of stevia.

Calorie note

This bread is not recommended as part of a calorie controlled diet. It is delicious however. Eat in moderation as one thin slice is approximately 225 calories.