Cafe Cecilia's Guinness bread

"In a strange way, without it there wouldn't be a café and I would have never learned how to cook. At a time when I was desperate to recover from depression, I decided I needed some time out from the music management company where I was working. My mother Odette showed me her recipe for Guinness bread, and I found that the meditation of mixing the bread really helped with the pressure and intensity of what I was going through."

"My mum is from Ireland and the bread recipe is very traditionally Irish. Every meal at Café Cecilia begins and ends with a nod to this bread. From the bread plate when you first sit down to the Guinness bread ice cream for dessert, it always features. It's slightly sweet, with notes of treacle along with the buttermilk, and I find it brings something unique to the café's menu, as it's hard to find good freshly baked Irish soda bread in London. Our menu changes daily,"

Guinness bread inspired the founding of Café Cecilia and taught the founder to cook during recovery from depression. The founder left a music management company to take time off and received the Guinness bread recipe from her mother, Odette. Mixing the bread provided a meditative practice that eased pressure and intensity during that period. The recipe is traditionally Irish, reflecting the mother's heritage. The Guinness soda bread features in every meal at the café, appearing from the initial bread plate to Guinness bread ice cream, with a slightly sweet, treacle and buttermilk flavor. The menu changes daily but soda bread is always served.

Read at Los Angeles Times