Beer, mustard and cheese bread recipe, inspired by Welsh Rarebit

Are you familiar with the British pub classic, Welsh Rarebit? It's a slice of toasted bread topped with a melted cheese, mustard and beer concoction. Excellent, if rich, comfort food. Those three flavourings are all present in this soft yeast bread that's been a favourite for years - I even included a recipe in my first cookbook. It's soft and tender, with plenty of gutsy flavours going on. It's obviously not a bread that you'd toast and slather with jam, but with some extra cheese or a slice of good country ham - oh yes!

See also Felicity Cloake's post How to cook perfect Welsh rarebit in the Guardian to give you some insights into the dish that inspired this bread. 


Beer, mustard and cheese bread
(Õlle-juustuleib)
Makes 2 loaves



500 ml dark beer (ale, porter, stout - all work; 2 cups)
50 g fresh yeast or 2 envelopes fast-action instant yeast
3-4 Tbsp light syrup (golden syrup or corn syrup is fine; about 80 g)
2 tsp fine salt
150 g hard cheese, coarsely grated (Cheddar's good, or any Estonian cheese :))
600-650 g all-purpose flour*
1-2 tsp English mustard powder (I use Colmans)
100 ml vegetable oil or 75 g butter, melted and cooled

Use a large mixing bowl.  If using fresh yeast, then crumble it into lukewarm (37C) beer and stir until dissolved. Add the syrup, then fold in the grated cheese and about half of the flour. Add the salt, mustard powder and knead in the rest of the flour. Finally add the oil/melted butter. 
(If you're using the fast-action instant yeast, then simply mix all the dry ingredients, then add the beer, syrup, cheese and mix, finally adding the oil/butter). 

* A note on the amount of flour. I've successfully made this with 600 g flour, which is about 1 litres or about 4 heaped cups.  You may need a little more - you're aiming for a soft, dropping consistency.

Cover the dough with a clean kitchen towel, place the mixing bowl into a warm and draught-free location and let the dough raise until doubled in size. This will take about an hour.
Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured worktop. Lightly knead the dough and divide into two equal parts. Form into oblong loaves and transfer into buttered or lined baking tins. (I've used 22 cm/2 litre bread tins to make high loaves and 30 cm/3 litre bread tins to make smaller loaves).
Bake in the middle of a pre-heated 175 C/350 F oven for about 45 minutes, until well risen and golden brown on top.



Alternatively, you can free-form the loaves and bake them on a baking sheet, as above.

More unusual takes on Welsh Rarebit:
Welsh rarebit lamb nachos @ Endless Simmer
Cheddar, beer and mustard pull-apart bread @ Smitten Kitchen (an idea not so dissimilar to this)
Welsh rarebit souffle @ Amuse Bouche

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Estonian Soda Bread Recipe

If you think you've already seen a recipe for Estonian soda bread here @ Nami-Nami, then you're not mistaken - I indeed blogged about it some three years ago. However, that recipe was with ricotta/curd cheese, and this one uses kefir or cultured buttermilk. There isn't such a huge taste difference - and they're both quick to make and delicious to eat. Caraway seeds are a traditional flavouring, but if you're not keen on that spice, you can leave it out.

It's best served warm - I usually devour it with some butter and honey (see photo above) or lingonberry jam.

The original recipe is from an Estonian cult baking book, Ida Savi's "Saiad, pirukad, koogid" (1989). I haven't changed it, really, as if it ain't broke, don't fix it :)

Estonian Soda Bread
(Odrajahu-hapupiimakarask)

a 23x23 cm square tin, buttered

250 ml cultured buttermilk, kefir or fermented milk (1 cup)
1 large egg
1 tsp salt
1 tsp caster sugar
2 Tbsp vegetable oil or melted butter
1 tsp caraway seeds
175 g barley flour (about 300 ml, I used wholemeal)
90 g wheat flour (150 ml)
1 tsp baking soda

Pre-heat the oven to 200 C/400 F.
Sift both flours and soda into a bowl.
Whisk the egg with salt and sugar, add the kefir, oil/melted butter, caraway seeds and the flour mix. Stir until just combined.
Pour into a buttered tin and bake in a pre-heated oven for 20-25 minutes, until the soda bread is golden brown on top.

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Rye bread with hazelnuts, raisins and dried cranberries

I've been baking my own naturally leavened (aka no-yeast) rye bread again, using just rye flour, and I'm very pleased with the results. I always make two large loafs - one plain (well, I do add caraway seeds and linseeds to the dough), the other flavoured. Last weekend I added some hazelnuts, dried cranberries and raisins to the mixture. Absolutely delicious!

Let me know if you're interested in the recipe.

EDIT 8 July 2009: Well, looks like I'll need to post the recipe indeed :) It's a longer post, but I'll do it a.s.a.p.!

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Mustard bread for mustard lovers

You're probably wondering why the bread on the photo looks so yellow. No, it's not me and K. mishandling the white balance on our camera. It's just that this bread is so exceptionally yellow in colour (mustard powder + ground turmeric), as well as mustardy in flavour (whole-grain mustard + mustard powder + mustard seeds). Definitely (or perhaps?) too mustardy to be your daily bread, but it would make a lovely loaf to accompany a simple vegetable soup, and perhaps even a cheeseboard.

The recipe is adapted from an Estonian supermarket food magazine Toit & Trend.

Mustard Bread
(Sinepisai)
Makes 1 loaf



250 ml (1 cup) lukewarm water
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 Tbsp whole-grain mustard
400 g plain/all-purpose flour
1 packet active dry yeast (app. 11 g)
3 tsp mustard powder (I used Coleman's English)
0.5 tsp ground turmeric
0.5 tsp salt
1 egg, whisked, for brushing
2 Tbsp brown mustard seeds, for topping

Mix the water, oil and whole-grain mustard in a large bowl.
Mix the flour, dry yeast, mustard powder, turmeric and salt in another bowl, then stir into the water mixture and knead, until the dough breaks loose from your hands (or dough hook, if using a mixer).
Cover the bowl with a clingfilm or a clean kitchen towel and leave to prove for an hour in a warm, draft-free place. It should pretty much double in size.
Knead the dough once again, then form into a round loaf. Transfer the loaf into an oiled oven sheet, cover again with a piece of clingfilm or a kitchen towel and leave to prove for another hour.
Cut few slashes on top with a sharp knife, then brush with egg and sprinkle with mustard seeds.
Bake in the middle of 200 C /400 F oven for about 30 minutes, until the bread is lovely golden and crispy on top.
Let it cool for about half an hour after taking out of the oven, then slice as thinly or thickly as you like.

Other bread recipes @ Nami-Nami:
Estonian Soda Bread with Ricotta Cheese
Tender Potato Bread (a Daring Baker challenge)
Fennel Seed Bread
Georgian Cheese Bread Hatchapuri

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