Junior Cooks & Soda Bread

My nieces, nephews and friends’ children seem to love cooking here and I enjoy working with them and encouraging them to try different things. Though I suspect the freedom to make a mess could be one of the main attractions ………

I’ve been asked more than once if I would do cookery classes for children so with two of my nieces visiting and my friend Kay about to head back to Brunei with her two children, I decided it was time to experiment.

We started with traditional Soda bread ….Thanks to Isabella and Savannah for setting up the table

The table didn’t stay clean for long once the mixing started.  I think there was a competition to see who could shake out the most flour and some of the mixes were a bit wet! They loved the stories about the cross in the cake to to represent the four provinces and there were lots of holes made to let the fairies escape.

The finished products had to be carefully labelled for judging – it was almost as tense as the GBBO!

Then Isabella got into cleaning mode…

 

While Aoife started on the turkey burgers and sweet potato wedges for lunch – served with her own garlic mayo. We went the healthy route and oven baked both the burgers and the wedges.  Thanks to Gemma from Kit Your Kitchen for the burger press – I think Aoife has already asked her Mum if they can get one!

 

Savannah and Conor decided foraging was much more fun 🙂

 

They all came back together for a combined effort to make  Babaduck’s raspberry brownies for dessert- even down to the diplomacy of sharing out the egg cracking!

 

Then it was time for a well earned rest …. lunch was devoured by my hungry cooks ….

 

Dessert was a DIY effort in the form of a pancake making competition which  produced some very imaginative results :

 

Isabella decided to go traditional with her pancake and had it eaten before I could take a pic!

Time then to learn a very important lesson – washing up !

I think they all enjoyed themselves – I know I did. Who knows I may even do it again………

Thankfully the  Chief Taster arrived just in time to make me a much needed Hendricks & tonic 🙂

If you’d like to make your own soda bread recipe here you go

What you need:

• 450g/1 lb. white bread flour
• 1 level teaspoon salt
• 1 level teaspoon bread soda
• 340-400 ml / 12-14 fl.oz approx buttermilk

What you do:

• Preheat oven to 230ºC/Gas 8
• Mix all dry ingredients in large bowl, making sure that you sieve in the bread soda.
• Make a well in the centre and pour in most of the buttermilk at once. The exact amount of buttermilk can vary, even according to the weather!
• Stir in the liquid until completely mixed but be very careful not to overmix.
• Turn the dough out onto a floured board and  gently form into long ‘loaf’ shape.  I know a circle is more acceptable but this is the shape my grandmother always used and it makes cutting the bread much easier!
• Place the loaf on lined  baking sheet.  Score a deepish line down the centre and prick the sides  to let the fairies out.
• Bake in a hot oven for 20 minutes,  then reduce heat to 180ºC/Gas 4 for another 15-20 mins, or until just cooked.Tap the bottom of the bread; if it is cooked it will sound hollow. Cool on wire rack and eat as soon as possible!

Happy Cooking!

 

If you would like details on upcoming cookery classes or our catering service you can contact me on 087 2488124 or yvonne@heypesto.ie