Gluten Free and Vegan Fruity Soda Bread

Saint Patrick's Day is looming, and we're all more or less on house arrest due to Covid-19, so naturally my thoughts turn to bread, specifically Irish bread, and my mother's baking. So I end up having to make what we called Curranty Bread, in my Dublin home.

I poked around various books and sites, but made up this recipe in the end, and it turned out lovely - great crust and a lovely texture to the bread itself. Slather with butter, vegan or otherwise, for proper yumminess.

Ingredients

400g plain gluten free flour

1 tsp bread soda

half tsp xanthan gum

A pinch of salt

3 tsp caster sugar

Buttermilk made by mixing 325ml almond milk + 2tsps lemon juice

150g sultanas

Method

1. Preheat oven to 190˚C.
2. Lightly grease & lightly flour a 2lb loaf tin.
3. In a large bowl, sieve the plain flour, bread soda, xanthan gum and salt. Stir.
4. Add in the sugar and mix through.
5. Pour in the buttermilk and combine until dough is sticky.
6. Plop and scrape the dough into the loaf tin, smooth the top and cut a deep cross into it.
7. Bake for about 1 hour or until the bread sounds hollow when you tap the bottom.
8. Remove from the oven and cool down on a rack.