Beer & Bread, Cinderella Style

Shelley Munro is in the house and she even included a recipe combining the two most favorite foods in the world. I love fresh bread, but I'm too lazy to bake half the time, so this might be perfect for me. Greg actually has some craft beer in the fridge he doesn't like so I'm going to try this with them.

Oh, and don't forget to enter Shelley's contest. There's a link at the end of this post.

Cinderella Breaks Bread 

by Shelley Munro

Most of you are familiar with the tale of Cinderella. You’ll have read the book as a child, seen the Disney version at the movies or taken your own children and grandchildren to watch Cinderella catch her prince.

Recently, I ventured in self-publishing territory with the publication of One Night of Misbehavior. As you might guess from my intro, my story is a modern retelling of Cinderella, and the gorgeous cover was designed by my wonderful host, Maria under her Book Cover Diva guise.

Charlotte Dixon, my poor hapless Cinderella, has good reasons for staying under the roof of her wicked stepmother and slaving away day after day, cooking, cleaning and looking after Gran. She’s a creative person who enjoys design, photography and scrapbooking. Charlotte and Gran spend their free time trying all sorts of crafts.

Cooking is another creative outlet, one Charlotte enjoys—when her stepmother and stepsiblings remember to leave something for her to eat after her hard work. During the course of One Night of Misbehavior Charlotte makes pasta dishes, salads for her diet-conscious stepsisters and steampunk cupcakes. She also makes focaccia bread.

Today I thought I’d give you another bread recipe from Charlotte’s repertoire. It’s the type of bread she makes when her stepmother springs extra guests on her at the last minute or her stepsisters eat every scrap of bread in the house and forget to tell her.

Beer Bread

3 cups of plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
400 ml/12 oz of beer (not low alcohol beer/if your can of beer is smaller make up the difference with water.)

Grated cheddar cheese

Place the flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl. Add the beer and combine all ingredients well. Place mixture in a greased tin and sprinkle the cheese on the top. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 200C/400F for 33 minutes. Turn out of tin and cool a little—if you have the patience!

Notes:
1. I vary the types of flour. The loaf in the photo is made with one cup of wholemeal and two cups of plain white flour.

2. Experiment – add sunflower seeds, nuts or herbs to the mixture.

3. The original recipe says to cook the loaf for 40 – 50 minutes. I have a fan oven and 33 minutes is the exact time for a loaf of bread to bake. You know your own oven so just be aware the cooking time can vary.

4. You can free form the loaves but I like mine in a tin because the mixture is on the sticky side.

Doesn't this look good!

This bread is also a staple in my household. I’ve been making my own bread instead of buying it for about six months now. Beer Bread is my go-to recipe when I don’t have time to mess around with waiting for yeast to do its magic i.e. when I want to concentrate on my edits. 

It’s quick, easy to make (as long as I can steal a can of beer from Mr. Munro) and is ready to eat in just over half an hour. It also keeps well and makes excellent toast—if there are leftovers!

CONTEST: Fill out the rafflecopter to win an Amazon gift certificate. What is your favorite type of bread to eat and have you tried making your own?

Shelley Munro lives in New Zealand with her husband and a rambunctious puppy called Bella. When she’s not writing, she loves to travel and bake bread. To learn more about One Night of Misbehavior and Shelley’s other books visit her website at http://www.shelleymunro.com.







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