Trend alert! Breads with flavour

Making bread at home can be a wonderfully pleasurable experience, there is an immense satisfaction to slicing into a freshly baked loaf that you have just taken from your own oven, writes Michelle Darmody. 

Bread making need not be too complicated. Traditional Irish soda breads are a good introduction as they do not contain yeast. Yeast can be a little temperamental to work with, but bread soda is a more placid raising agent and not as tricky.

When you are using yeast the dried, powdered version works well in a home environment. It comes in small sachets that protect the yeast from the elements. If it is allowed to touch the air and moisture gets in the dried yeast it will spoil. Keeping it in small amounts allows you to use it over time.