You don’t need a lot of expensive kit like a bread maker or the skills of a professional baker to make tasty bread. Yeast can seem to have a mind of its own abouet rising…anyone who has made bread knows what it feels like to create a “brick” instead of a loaf !

The new Beer Bread mixes from Barrett's Ridge are a doddle to get bread on the table in less than an hour without the weary task of kneading. No yeast is involved so it’s much more reliable. 

Each Beer Bread kit makes a soda bread which has a long and honourable tradition all over the world, loved because of it’s ease, speed and good eating qualities. It rises because the bicarbonate of soda in the mix reacts with an acidic liquid. In this case delicious beer !

• Get everything ready before you mix in the beer.  
• Don’t keep the beer in the fridge – room temperature will work better.  You can also use non  alcoholic beer, cider, or soda water.
• Put the oven on.
• Find that 2llb loaf tin (21 x 10cm approx.) you know is somewhere in the kitchen and grease it well with butter. Rub with a block butter wrapper or the saved paper from the top of the tub - easy and less waste.
• Get a large mixing bowl and a large spoon.
• Melt the butter if you want to put some on top of the loaf.

1. Put the content of the pack into a large bowl.  
2. Add the beer (cider or soda water) and mix with a large spoon until you have a lumpy mix with no visible dry flour. Don’t over mix.
3. Place into the greased tin, levelling it off roughly and pouring on the butter if using. Immediately put the tin on the middle shelf of the oven. 
4. After approx. 45 minutes remove from oven and turn out onto a wire rack.

Eat while still warm. Beer Bread makes fantastic toast – if there is any left !

Thanks again to Fairtrade Foodie Fiona for these top tips.