River Cottage

Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas mark 6. Lightly oil a baking sheet or line one with baking parchment.

Sift the flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda together into a bowl. Stir in the chopped rosemary and sultanas. Make a well in the middle.

Whisk the yoghurt and milk together until smooth. Add to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. This will give you a soft, sticky dough, which is how I like it, as it makes a nice moist loaf.

With floured hands, or a spatula, scrape the dough on to the prepared baking sheet and pat it into a rough round. Bake for 45 minutes until risen and golden brown.

Leave the bread to cool on a wire rack. Eat as it is within 24 hours or, if you’ve left it longer than that, toast the slices. The loaf freezes well too.

Variation

Soda bread with thyme, Cheddar and mustard Use 250g spelt or wholemeal flour mixed with 250g plain white flour. Replace the rosemary and sultanas with 100g grated strong Cheddar and 1 tbsp finely chopped thyme.

Whisk 2 tsp English mustard into the yoghurt and milk before combining with the dry ingredients.