Alvin's Savoury Quick Bread

Having seen quick bread being made on this year's Great British Bake Off, and liking the sound of the prosciutto, manchego and balsamic onion loaf Alvin made, we decided to give it a go.  Requiring only plain flour we hoped it would be ok to substitute Dove's Farm Plain Flour in Alvin's recipe.  It was a surprisingly "decent attempt"... here's what we did with the ingredients (we omitted the basil) which were -

2 tbsp olive oil

1 large red onion, finely sliced

3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1½ tbsp soft brown sugar

450g  Dove's Farm Gluten Free plain flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp salt

30g cold unsalted butter, diced

80g prosciutto, torn into strips

200g Manchego cheese, diced

300ml buttermilk + water

1 tbsp butter, melted (for topping)

We warmed the oil in a small frying pan and, once hot, added the red onions. The heat was then reduced and the pan was covered with a lid.  After about 15 minutes we added the balsamic vinegar and soft brown sugar, this was then cooked, without the lid, for 5 more minutes to caramelise lightly.  It was then removed from the heat and left to cool.

At this point, we set the fan oven to 180C and lined the baking tray with baking parchment.

Having sifted the flour, bicarb and salt into a bowl, we rubbed in the butter by hand till a
fine breadcrumb consistency was reached.

Putting to one side a tablespoon of the onions, a small amount of the chopped cheese and some of prosciutto - this would be used for the loaf's topping.

We added the remaining onions, ham and cheese to the flour mixture and made sure it was well combined

Adding a small amount (about 25ml) water to the pot of buttermilk, we carefully mixed it in to loosen the buttermilk slightly.

Having made a well in the flour mixture we added about two thirds of the thinned buttermilk. Using a lightly floured hand, it was all mixed until it began to bind together... we did have to add more buttermilk and, probably, should have added more to get a wetter dough.

Next we turned the dough out onto a lightly floured silicone sheet and shaped it into an oval.  It was  about 4cm thick.  Having moved the loaf to the baking sheet, we dusted it with a little flour and the top was scored, diagonally, with a knife.

Finally, the remaining caramelised onions, ham and cheese were

placed on top.

The loaf was baked for 35 minutes when we covered the top with foil to stop it burning.  It was cooked for a further 10 minutes when the loaf was removed and transferred to a cooling rack. 

We brushed the top of the loaf with melted butter and allowed it to cool fully before being sliced thickly.  It made a lovely addition to lunch... and was a delicious breakfast too!

Wrapping the loaf in foil, it kepy well in the fridge for a couple of days. 

We'll definitely make this again, although will likely make a half size batch loaf and will also make sure we add enough buttermilk to get a slightly wetter dough which should allow easier working and shaping.