Blueberry & Lemon Soda Bread – a quick & delicious teatime treat!

Blueberry & Lemon Soda Bread

I love the combination of blueberries and lemon and I love soda bread so the other day I developed Blueberry & Lemon Soda Bread. My first attempt tasted great when still warm but after it cooled down I realised that the texture was all wrong. I’d gone off piste and used eggs, yogurt and oil and no bicarbonate of soda just baking powder along with plain white flour, this made for a very claggy loaf. So I went back to the drawing board determined to make this work as the flavour was spot on and the outer crust with the crunchy Demerera sugar was just delightful.

For my second attempt I ditched the eggs, yogurt and oil and plumped for milk and lemon juice which is often used as an alternative to buttermilk. I don’t actually like the flavour buttermilk gives to soda bread so always use the milk and lemon juice in its place. This worked really well as it boosted the lemon flavour provided by the lemon zest. I also decided to use some spelt wholemeal flour to improve the texture and depth of flavour and put the bicarbonate of soda back in as this really gives soda bread it’s unique taste which was missing from my first attempt.

I was really pleased with the final Blueberry & Lemon Soda Bread (as were my family) which is great served warm or cold and will last a couple of days stored in an airtight container. Enjoy it with just butter or ply with jam or my Granny’s Quick Lemon Curd would go brilliantly, it really is a delicious and healthier treat for teatime or breakfast. If your children are still on summer break why not get them to make it, this recipe is so quick and easy to make!

I do hope you try my delicious Blueberry & Lemon Soda Bread but if you need more fruity soda bread ideas you might like:

Apple & Pear Cider Spelt Soda Bread
Christmas Soda Bread 
Slow Cooker Tropical Soda Bread 
Blackberry & Apple Spelt Soda Bread

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Blueberry & Lemon Soda Bread

Blueberry & Lemon Soda Bread - with the addition of wholemeal spelt flour this really is a healthy and delicious treat.

Course Snack

Cuisine British

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings 10

Author Camilla

Ingredients

• 180 mls milk I used semi-skimmed
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 200 g plain flour
• 150 g wholemeal spelt flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp bicarbonate of soda
• 50 g sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• zest of 1 unwaxed lemon*
• 90 g frozen blueberries
• Demerara sugar for sprinkling

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 190ºC.
2. Prepare baking sheet by dusting with flour.
3. Stir the lemon juice into the milk then put aside.
4. Sieve the flours, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl (tipping the spelt husks that are left into the bowl).
5. Mix in the caster sugar, salt, lemon zest and frozen blueberries.
6. Add the curdled milk and mix to a dough with a fork then bring together with an oiled hand to form a ball of dough.
7. Tip onto the baking tray and flatten to a circle measuring about 16 cm. (Speed is required to get this in the oven asap as the raising agents start working as soon as he liquid is added).
8. Cut a deep cross into the dough (going nearly all the way through but not quite) and then sprinkle the top with demerara sugar.
9. Bake in the oven for 30 – 35 minutes until the base sounds hollow when knocked.
10. Cool on a wire rack.
11. Serve warm or cold with butter (and jam or lemon curd if desired).
12. Will keep for a couple of days in an airtight container.

Recipe Notes

*If you don’t have an unwaxed lemon you must wash the wax off as this is not meant for human consumption. I use a drop of washing up liquid, rub in well with a drop of warm water and then give it a scrub with my potato brush and rinse well. I think I got this tip from Michael van Stratton on a radio show (LBC) many years ago!