I had the sincere pleasure of spending the day with Rita Meade at the Berry Lodge Cookery School in Spanish Point, Miltown Malbay, County Clare, Ireland. My childhood friend Julie, her daughter Chelsea, and Jack’s best friend’s wife, Terri, joined me in what turned out to be a day of cooking, learning not only about Irish food, but tradition, delicious food, and I made a new friend. Rita and her family have owned the property for years, and she’s been sharing her culinary skills with people from all over the world. She spent the day with us. How lucky were we?
Our menu for the day:
Walnut Treacle Bread
Black Pudding and Apple Scones
Summer Greens Soup
Beef and Guinness Casserole
Colcannon Mash
Carrageen, Chocolate and Lime Mousse
Strawberry and Raspberry in Lime Syrup
Today I am sharing the recipe for the Walnut Treacle Bread. Terri and I prepared this recipe, with Rita’s guidance. I hope that I get the details right.

Prep Time | 20 minutes |
Cook Time | 3 hours |
Servings |
small loaves
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- 2.5 lb wholemeal flour or whole wheat flour
- 3.5 oz wheat germ
- 3.5 oz pinhead oatmeal or steel cut Irish oats
- 3.5 oz bran Miller's Bran
- 3.5 oz oat flakes
- 3.5 oz walnuts chopped
- 2 tsp salt
- 6 oz unslated butter
- 2.5 oz treacle (molasses)
- 2.5 pints buttermilk
Ingredients
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- Grease and flour 4 small, 1 lb, loaf tins. Preheat over to 300 degrees.
- Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Melt the butter, then warm the treacle until runny and mix them in with the buttermilk.
- Add the liquids to the dry ingredients and blend together well to make a wet mixture.
- Divide equally between the prepared loaf tins and bake in the preheated oven for three hours.
- Turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool.