Strawberry bread

Neither 100% cake nor 100% a bread ‘strawberry bread’ sits half way between the two. The smell of cooking strawberries and vanilla wafts through the kitchen and leaves you clambering at the oven door waiting for it to emerge. Based on a soda bread this is an easy to make method, the sweetness of the strawberries and the edge of the soda bread create a lovely balance. The melon seeds add a needed crunch and most importantly oats keep you filled up for longer.

150g pure oats
150g gf doves farm flour
50g live yoghurt
25g isapghol seeds dehusked
75g peeled melon seeds
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 egg
25g butter or margarine
4 tablespoons of milk
1 punnet of strawberries

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

First of all toast the peeled melon seeds in a heavy based frying pan until they begin to pop and are golden in colour.

Place all the ingredients with the exception of the strawberries and the milk, in a bowl and mix together. Then pour in the milk and leave to stand for a couple of minutes. The oats will soak up the milk quite quickly.

Then wash the strawberries, trimming their leaves, chop in halves (if small) or quarters (if large) then fold into the mix trying not to squash them but making sure to evenly distribute them.

Using a silicone baking sheet to cover a metal sheet pan and sprinkle with a little flour. Then place the toasted melon seeds on top of the flour. Place the mix on top of the melon seeds. You can lift the silicone baking sheet to help shape the bread and make it look tidy but it should be stiff enough to hold a position.

Bake for approximately 1 hour. It will be ready when the bread is golden, a crust has formed and the strawberries are oozing their juices.

Cool before serving with or without butter.