Hello, 2021! If you guys caught my post yesterday, you’ve heard all about my blog plans for this year, so I won’t dive into the details here. The short, quick version is that I’m back to making 4-course menus for every book I cook here on the blog, albeit on a relaxed schedule. I’ll be spending 2 months on each book instead of 1 and posting a new recipe every other week.
We’re starting off with a book that’s been on my TBR for ages: Jane Eyre! Despite it being a hefty book, I powered right through. It was an absolute joy to read! Charlotte Bronte’s descriptions are utterly beautiful, and I loved Jane’s spunk (even if I question her taste in men). I wanted to keep reading just to watch her react to things!
Bread, especially brown bread, is mentioned throughout the book, it’s scarcity or bounty a barometer of Jane’s good fortune. I saw this as an opportunity to make something I’ve been secretly wanting to try my hand at for 7 years: brown soda bread. When my husband and I honeymooned in Ireland, we ate a lot of amazing things (omg the STEWS!), but my favorite thing was the brown bread. It was just so hearty and rich, almost malty, and it toasted like a dream. I ate a thick slice every morning with butter, jam, and a cup of tea and never got tired of it.
Since the book is set in northern England, technically Jane probably would have eaten a simple yeasted bread, but I didn’t want to go that route because, well, I’ve already done it. I made a yeasted brown sandwich loaf for my Matilda menu a couple years ago, and a rustic whole wheat boule for my new cookbook. It didn’t make much sense to make another when I could just direct you to one of those. Instead, I decided it would be more fun to try something different!
Taking a more elaborate soda bread from my cookbook as inspiration, I stripped it down to only the necessities, made it whole wheat, and baked it in a loaf pan. It turned out AMAZING. This simple bread may look unassuming, but it’s packed with nuttiness and hearty texture. It’s somehow incredibly buttery all by itself, but I won’t fault you if you add a generous schmear. May I also recommend apple jelly? I added some yesterday morning at breakfast and could have fainted for joy. 😀
A
Rustic Brown Bread from Jane Eyre
“Soon after five P.M. we had another meal, consisting of a small mug of coffee, and half-a-slice of brown bread. I devoured my bread and drank my coffee with relish; but I should have been glad of as much more—I was still hungry.”
— Jane Eyre
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup buttermilk
Makes 1 small loaf
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Preheat oven to 400°. Coat a 9-inch loaf pan with cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large bowl, stir together flour, salt, and baking soda. Add the buttermilk all at once, stirring until just combined. The baking soda reaction begins as soon as the buttermilk is added, so you want to move quickly after the dough is stirred up.
- Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface. Dust hands with flour and sprinkle over dough. Shape dough into a 8-inch loaf. It doesn’t need to be pretty or perfect. Soda bread’s rustic appearance is part of its charm, and you don’t want to work the dough too long.
- Transfer loaf to the prepared pan and bake for 35 minutes or until golden and the bottom sounds hollow when firmly tapped with a finger. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
- Serve with a generous smear of butter to a governess in an austere manor house as she gazes out the window across the bleak moors of northern England.
For a more modern version, you can whisk 1 egg and 2 Tbsp molasses into the buttermilk before adding to the dry mix. After it’s in the pan, slice the top with a knife to control expansion and bake about 10 minutes longer. This results in a softer crumb, higher rise, and darker, richer color.
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