One of the many things I tried to help with my excema was to cut out (or down on!) wheat.
Mary B made it first and then gave me the recipe which is originally from the Cornucopia recipe book…which I have since bought! It’s a vegetarian restaurant in Dublin (I’ve never been) and Gaye Godkin recommended their book for lots of recipes using pulses and veg etc, I haven’t made much from it so I must experiment with a few more recipes!
I’ve made this bread a few times however, I’m not an expert on bread but I have realised that every oven is different so it generally takes a few tries before you know the best temperature/time for your oven and bread. I need to bake this for 5-10 more minutes than the recipe says so I leave it in for over an hour and the most recent batch seems to have worked out well!
I cut half of it into slices and have put them in the freezer so I’ll let you know how well that works! It’s very tasty, the molasses give it a good flavour, though I couldn’t find the blackstrap version here in Belgium – if you can even better. It’s also very filling!
Ingredients
- 425g spelt flour
- 40g (3tbsp) sesame seeds*
- 40g (3tbsp) sunflower seeds*
- 40g (3tbsp) pumpkin seeds*
- 15g (1tbsp) poppy seeds*
- 15g (1tbsp) linseeds*
- 2tsp baking powder
- 1tsp salt (heaped)
- 550ml water
- 1tbsp treacle (blackstrap molasses) – optional
- 2lb (900g) loaf tin)
* If you don’t have all 5 different seeds, you can use whatever seeds you have – just make up a total of 150g of mixed seeds.
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180C and brish the bread tin with oil, or line with baking parchment.
- Sift the flour and baking powder into a large mixing bowl. Add the salt and all the seeds and combine thoroughly.
- Form a well in the centre of the mix
- In a jug, combine the water and treacle, stir well and then pour it into the well in the centre of your dry mix.
- Use a spoon or your hand to bring all the ingredients together evenly. Make sure that the treacle is evenly distributed, not clumped in sticky pockets.
- Use as little mixing as possible to achieve an even mix. It should be of a very sloppy consistency.
- Transfer the mix to the oiled tin and pres down evenly – I also run a knife down the centre of the mix.
- Bake in the centre of the oven for about 60 minutes, until well risen and evenly browned.
- Run a knife around the edge of the loaf, turn out onto a wire rack and tap the base with your finger. If it makes a hollow sound, the bread is cooked.
- Cover with a tea towel and leave to cool completely on the rack before cutting.
