Guinness and Gruyere Bread

Now that I am living over in Ireland it is pretty impossible to fail to notice that it is St Patrick’s Day today. Shamrocks seem to be popping up everywhere and parades are taking place throughout the emerald isle to entertain the nation! Across the country (and much of the world) people will also be celebrating by consuming copious amounts of the black stuff (or occasionally artificially dyed green stuff!). But I thought I would celebrate in my own way by incorporating Guinness into this savoury bread recipe. Like other traditional Irish breads (soda bread and wheaten bread) this is a yeast free recipe and uses the Guinness as the raising agent.

INGREDIENTS

300g whole wheat flour

350g plain flour

30g soft brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 heaped teaspoon baking powder

1 heaped teaspoon smoked paprika

100g gruyere cheese (grated)

1 tablespoon tomato puree

1 440ml can Guinness

Pre-heat the oven to 190°C / 375°F

Sift both flours into a large mixing bowl, add the sugar, salt, baking powder and paprika and mix together until fully combined.

Next add 75g of the grated cheese (reserve 25g for sprinkling on top of the loaf)

Finally add the tomato puree and then gradually stir in the Guinness to the dry ingredients adding a little at a time, stirring after each addition of beer until a firm dough is formed.

Liberally dust a work surface with plain flour and turn the dough out onto the flour. Knead the dough for 5-10 minutes until smooth and elastic. (I found that my dough was quite wet and soon absorbed all of the flour on the work top so required more flour to be added during the kneading process).

Shape the dough into an oval and transfer to a lightly greased baking tray. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of the dough and place in the middle of the oven for 50 minutes until golden brown.