Most people find that making a yeast dough takes far too long, so why not try a quick alternative, soda bread made with a little bit of bicarbonate of soda, which is a totally different form of raising agent. But make sure that you have all your ingredients ready, and the oven pre-heated because as soon as the bicarb has come into contact with the liquid, the gases will start to be produced.

The Recipe
The Science

The Recipe

Ingredients

• 600g (21 ¼ oz) strong white flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 2 tblsp castor sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 425 ml (15 fl oz) natural yoghurt

Methods

1. Sieve the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, sugar and salt into a large bowl.
2. Beat together the egg and yoghurt and pour the mix into the dry ingredients.
3. Knead the dough until smooth and shape into a round. Transfer the dough to a greased tray. Using a sharp knife mark a cross on the top of the dough.
4. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 190 degrees C/380 degrees F/Gas mark 5 for 40 minutes until bread is golden.

The Science

The yeast is a living thing and it takes quite a long time to produce carbon dioxide to make the bread rise. Bicarbonate of soda is just a chemical reaction, carbon dioxide is produced when you add acid, which is in the form of yoghurt, and also some water. So it happens really quickly and you don’t have to leave it to rise.