Starters orders: Soup and brown bread recipes from The Old Spot for your Christmas feast

Chef Mark Ahessy of gastropub The Old Spot shares some of his popular recipes from The Old Spot Cookbook

Bread and soup are the perfect intro to your Christmas Day feast. Pictures: Ruth Calder-Potts

A warming bowl of silky soup is the perfect way to kickstart the festivities with everyone sitting around the dinner table. Made ahead of time and served with slices of homemade bread, soup makes the perfect intro to your Christmas Day feast. 

Guinness Brown Bread

recipe by:Mark Ahessy

Our customers love this bread so much they buy loaves to take home, and we always have a large pre-order list for our Christmas Eve regulars

Preparation Time

 15 mins

Cooking Time

 45 mins

Total Time

 60 mins

Course

 Baking

Ingredients

• 400g wholemeal flour

• 100g plain flour

• 35g muscovado sugar

• 1 level teaspoon

• (5g) bread soda

• 30g salted butter, diced and softened

• 330ml buttermilk

• 180ml Guinness stout

• 110g treacle

• 50g porridge oats

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 165°C. Grease a 900g (2lb) loaf tin and line with non-stick baking paper.

2. Mix all the flours, sugar and bread soda together in a large mixing bowl. Add the softened butter and rub it in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

3. Add the buttermilk, Guinness and treacle and stir to mix through fully.

4. Pour into the prepared tin and top with a scattering of the oats. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, until an inserted skewer comes out clean.

5. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly in the tin before turning out onto a wire rack to cool fully.

6. CHEF’S TIP: We like to keep this bread simple, but you could also add a handful or two of pumpkin or sunflower seeds to the mixture together with the liquid ingredients, then sprinkle some extra over the top before baking.