Ingredients
- 3 cups self-raising flour
- 3 cups plain flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 3 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 500g wheaten meal *
- 900ml buttermilk
Method
Heat oven to 180C (fan-forced). Sift flours thoroughly and mix with salt, sugar and bicarbonate of soda in a large bowl. Add wheaten meal and mix well to combine. Make a well in the centre and add buttermilk all at once. Stir in buttermilk with a spoon to combine, then mix with your hands until a dough forms.
Turn dough out on a large floured board and knead lightly with your hands for about three minutes, or until the dough springs back when a thumb is pushed into it. Shape into a round cake and cut a two-centimetre-deep cross with a sharp, floured knife.
Place on a floured baking tray and bake for about 35-40 minutes. The bread is ready when a tap on the bottom produces a hollow sound. Wrap in a linen tea cloth and leave to cool.
* The Natural Grocer brand of fine crushed wheat (naturalgrocer.com.au) gives a result very similar to the wheaten meal sold in Ireland.
