Bakery creates a novel whiskey wheaten bread

A small Northern Irish bakery is aiming to catch the wave of growing demand for Irish Whiskey, now the world's fastest growing brown spirit.

Amazin' Grazin' at Portstewart in county Derry has launched a unique Irish Whiskey Wheaten Bread, a development that also adds a new dimension to one of Northern Ireland's most traditional breads.

Baker Lynne Gardiner is behind the creation of the wheaten loaf which also uses whiskey distilled in Northern Ireland. The region has seen the emergence of several smaller whiskey distilleries in the past five years.

In addition to the whiskey wheaten, the bakery has also extended the range of the traditional Irish breads by developing wheatens with date and apple, Guinness and treacle, and cheese. The breads are all handmade and retail at around £4. She has also produced a beer wheaten using Rathlin Red Ale, a local craft ale from Ballycastle in county Antrim.

The whiskey wheaten was launched successfully at the recent Salmon and Whiskey Festival in the village of Bushmills in county Antrim.

"I've been baking wheaten bread for many years and decided to create a whiskey bread for the festival," she says. "And it proved hugely popular with shoppers. "The Irish whiskey wheaten is clearly a winner. This encouraged me to look at other ingredients to refresh the traditional Northern Irish wheaten loaf," she adds.

She's a baker by trade who has managed restaurants in the seaside town and has created the artisan bakery business out of her love of baking and especially wheaten bread, sometimes known as brown soda.

"Nothing beats a slice of homemade wheaten bread. It's delicious when served warm from the oven, or toasted for a tasty snack or breakfast. It works exceptionally well with starters that are served with bread, such as soup, pate and smoked salmon. What I've been doing is to introduce different flavour options," she adds.

The yeast-free bread is baked with wholemeal flour, bicarbonate of soda, caster sugar, buttermilk, baking powder and a pinch of salt. She's also working on a gluten-free wheaten loaf.