Ingredients
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 2 cups all purpose flour, plus additional for kneading
- 1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 stick unsalted butter cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- 2 cups well-shaken buttermilk
Directions
- Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400. Butter a 9″x2″ round cake pan.
- Whisk together flours, wheat germ, salt, sugar, baking soda and cream of tartar in a large bowl until combined well. Blend in butter with a pastry blender or your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Make a well in the center and add buttermilk, stirring until a dough forms. Gently knead on a floured surface, adding just enough more flour to keep the dough from sticking, until smooth, about 3 minutes.
- Transfer dough to cake pan and flatten it to fill the pan. With a sharp knife cut an X, 1/2 inch deep, across the top of the dough, 5 inches long. Bake until loaf is lightly browned and sounds hollow when bottom is tapped, 30-40 minutes. Cool pan on a rack for 10 minutes, then turn the loaf out onto the rack and cool, right-side up, about an hour.
Note: Bread can be served the day that it is made, but it slices more easily if kept,
wrapped in plastic wrap, at room temperature for a day. Left over bread will keep at room temp for about 4 days.