I get inspired by food literally all the time, everywhere and in the oddest of places, social media platforms being no exception. So when well known radio personality @IanFSA tweeted this basil beer bread recipe the other day, along with his hand drawn picture instructions, I knew – once I stopped giggling – that this was something I wanted to try.
Easy bread + beer + fresh basil = a fabulous idea.
I thought I’d knock this up before the tennis on Sunday, it literally has 5 ingredients and takes 5 minutes to make.
Some of Ian’s instructions weren’t crystal clear – like the amount of sugar and volume of beer – but I went for a tablespoon of the former and 33oml (standard beer volume) for the latter and this worked out just perfectly.
I used quite a bitter beer which gave the bread a slight bitter taste, so my suggestion is to go with a sweeter less bitter option, like Castle or Castle light. Or if there are any beer aficionados reading this, please make your suggestions known in the comments below.
Recipe | makes one smallish loaf
- 3 cups self raising flour
- bunch of basil, chopped (about 25 – 30g)
- pinch of salt (free flowing table salt is better)
- 1T brown sugar
- 330ml room temperature beer
Pre heat the oven to 180 c / 350 F.
Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, mix and form a dough.
Put the dough in a greased or lined bread tin (I used a 23 x 12 cm tin), and bake for 40 minutes until golden brown. To test if it is done, pierce a skewer or sharp knife in the thickest part and if it comes out clean, its ready.
I find that bread that has been made with cake flour is best consumed straight out the oven, warm with butter melting into it.
Enjoy!
* PS ` I must be one of the last people in the world to have hooked into Instagram, but now that I have an iPhone I simply love it. I post pictures of the food I eat, style or shoot, and I love to show off how beautiful my home town of Cape Town is.
I look forward to connecting with you again in the future.
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25 Comments
Hi Sam, this looks like a very interesting combination, I have a question re self raising flour I hardly ever buy it, so if I only have normal cake flour at home, how much of self raising agent like bicarb or baking powder do I need to add per cup to replicate the shop bought version of self raising flour ?
Many thanks
J
Hi Jo, I have done a fair bit of research on how to convert flour to self raising and there seems to be a some discrepancy. Self raising contains more than just baking powder, so I generally always just use self raising when its called for in order to be precise (I also bake a lot). If I have ever converted, I have just added 2 teaspoons BP per cup of flour. Some recipes require baking soda too, or 1 1/2 tsp BP per cup of flour plus a pinch of salt. some use 2 tsp BP, 1 tsp cream of tartar and 1/2 tsp of bicarb of soda. I don’t have a definitive answer.
Many thanks Sam, seems complicated to get it perfect and I don’t like wasting ingredients. I guess I will probably just buy a smaller volume of SRF
Cheers 🙂
Sam this looks so good! I love the rustic look of it. I can’t wait to try it.
Yes please to fresh bread with basil, your basil looks so fresh and vibrant!
Hi Sam
I just love this – will make it with my home made Mozzarella! The bread, the pics and everything is stunning!
Carolie
My husband will be oh so happy that I stumbled across this recipe : ) The photos are so beautiful! Thank you for posting!
Hi Carolie, Home made mozzarella – wow!
I have a recipe for beer bread, minus the basil, but I always use Killian’s Red. It adds the flavor and sweetness, but I’m not sure how it would be with the basil. My recipe is flour, beer and a bit of sugar. I substitute Splenda and only use a little. The Killian’s makes it. I also have a recipe for beer boiled shrimp and Killian’s still rules.
Oh! Carolie, Please, please, how do you make home made Mozzarella!
cheers!
Liz
I will ask Carolie to teach us 🙂
Thanks for sharing your tips Chris 🙂
*Love* those wee hand written instructions! (My French godmother never uses precise measurements either – she clucks at me when I painstakingly scoop and level my flour.) 😀
This bread is beautiful – and not too difficult! I bet it would be wonderful with a hard apple cider ale!
Hi Valerie, I also love hand written instructions with drawings. I have seen whole websites like this. Its very endearing.
I can’t wait to give this a go. My basil is growing like mad this summer.
Jamie, the perfect way to use up the basil. I’m a little jealous as we are in the throws of winter, so no herb garden for me.
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As soon as I get a new place with an oven, I am making this! I love beer bread and got really excited to see basil in the mix. I’m guessing it’s a delicious combo 😉
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Pilsner Urquell has about 40 BUs (bitterness units), which is quite bitter. If you want something lighter, then try a malty beer such as Windhoek Tafel, or a weiss such as Brauhaus am Damm weiss which has a bready flavour and is low in BUs (about 10-15)
Thanks Kevin, great advice. Sam
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