Bread with Beer in it

The perfect solution to the vegan need for soda bread without the buttermilk, soda bread with beer in it instead.

This is a profoundly easy and extremely nice quick loaf that slices, toasts and would probably make excellent 'eggy bread' (I think some people call this French toast) although I've not tried that yet. The texture is firm on the outside, tender within and it keeps for a day or two wrapped in a clean cotton teatowel. Rather nicer than all the Irish soda breads I've tried over the years if the truth be told.

When I first read a recipe for it on Farmgirl Fare it seemed to call for extra flavourings and fat in the form of added cheese and egg washes so when I came to veganise it I added nutritional yeast, garlic powder, herbs all of which things did nothing to improve the quality and in the case of the nutritional yeast flakes (I blame that Gayelord) contributed an unpleasant bitter flavour. So the next time I tried it I gave all those extras the push and kept it simple, and that worked.

400g fine wholemeal flour
400ml beer, I used a german lager, these are usually vegan, it would be nice to try this with a wheat beer sometime.
25g brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 sachet (11g) baking powder.

Heat the oven to 200C. Mix all the dry ingredients together then add the beer and mix quickly into a thick batter. Make sure you stop mixing as soon as all the flour is incorporated.

Pour and scrape the mixture into a greased large loaf tin and cook for 55 mins to an hour. Test with a skewer to make sure it's cooked through, remove from oven and allow to cool on a rack for a few minutes before slicing.