Smoked salmon, cream cheese and dill pâté

Method

1. For the soda bread, preheat the oven to 230°C/fan210°C/gas 8. Mix the wholemeal and plain flour, bicarbonate of soda, caraway seeds and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre and stir in just enough buttermilk so that everything comes together into a soft, slightly sticky dough.
2. Turn the mixture out onto a lightly floured surface and knead very lightly and briefly until it comes together into a ball. Don’t over-knead the dough as this will make the bread heavy. Shape the mixture into a short, fat sausage shape, then drop into a lightly buttered and well floured 900g loaf tin (about 11cm x 22cm). Slightly flatten the top so it fills the corners, then make a shallow slash lengthways down the centre of the loaf with a small, sharp knife.
3. Sprinkle with a little plain flour.
4. Bake the loaf on the middle shelf of the oven for 15 minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 180°C/fan160°C/gas 4 and bake for another 25 minutes or until it’s well risen with a rich, golden brown crust. Turn the loaf out of the tin straightaway. It should sound hollow when you tap the base. Cool on a wire rack.
5. For the pâté, put the cream cheese, crème fraîche, lemon zest, lemon juice and horseradish into a food processor and whizz together until smooth. You can also do this in a bowl, by hand or with an electric hand mixer. Add the smoked salmon and the dill, then process using the pulse button to make a coarse pâté. If doing by hand, finely chop the salmon and dill, then stir in. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve spread onto slices of the soda bread.