March 29, 2008 - 12:12pm
malt loaf
Living in England for several years I fell in love with the small, slightly sticky, malt loaf. It is a dark rich "tea" bread. I have never been able to find a recipe for one. Anyone in England, or anywhere else, have one please? It is a small loaf and sometimes had raisens in it. Monica
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I have recipes for both and would be glad to post one, or both, for you.
Paddy, as soon as I posted the recipe I found a non-yeasted one - I'll let you go first! A.
Monica, I miss that bread too! Really sticky and sooo good. I found a recipe in a book called Bread, the breads of the world and how to bake them - but judging by the pictures it isn't the same. I have a friend who works in an English store in San Diego and they sell the bread. I'll give the recipe in case you want to try it.
2 oz. malt extract
2 tbspn golden syrup
2oz butter
1 lb bread flour
1 tspn mixed spice
3/4 oz fresh yeast
6 fluid oz. warm milk
6 oz. currants slightly warmed
Glaze
2 tbspn milk, 2 tbspn caster sugar.
Melt butter, malt and syrup, cool completely. Add to rest of ingredients except currants, knead 10 minutes. Proof 1 1/2 - 2 hours until double, knead in currants. Shape into 2 loaves, proof in pans until dough reaches top of pan. Bake at 400* for 35 to 40 minutes. Melt sugar and milk for glaze, brush loaves as soon as they come out of oven. Hope this helps, A.
PaddyL, I'm not sure, but being it was a small, somewhat heavy loaf, I would say "Non-yeasted." but if you have time to post it, I'll try both! Thanks everyone! Monica
AnnieT, I just saw the "fresh yeast" and I can't find it ANYWHERE! I live in The Upstate of SC, and believe me I have looked. I asked the local grocery store and all they said was, "Try on-line." So, I have given up and use only the dry stuff which I buy in bulk. Hope it doesn't make a difference.
Monica, I haven't ever found fresh yeast in my area (Washington State) but I have used instant yeast instead with good results. Dan Lepard in The Art of Handmade Bread says to use half the weight of fresh, but I think he is referring to regular yeast - you would use less of the instant yeast. Aha! Peter Reinhart gives a formula - 100% fresh yeast = 40 to50% active dry yeast = 33% instant yeast! There you go, A.
This is from Classic 1000 Cake and Bake Recipes by Wendy Hobson.
Malt Loaf
25 g/1 oz/2 tbsp. butter
225 g/8 oz/2 cups self-raising flour
25 g/1 oz/2 tbsp. soft brown sugar
30 ml/2 tbsp. black treacle (molasses)
20 ml/4 tsp. malt extract
150 ml/1/4 pt/2/3 cup milk
75 g/3 oz./1/2 cup sultanas
15 ml/1 tbsp. caster (superfine) sugar
30 ml/2 tbsp. water
Rub the butter into the flour, then stir in the brown sugar. Warm the treacle, malt extract, and milk, then blend into the dry ingredients with the sultanas and mix to a dough. Turn into a greased 450 g/1 lb. loaf tin (pan) and bake in preheated oven at 160C/325F/gas mark 3 for 1 hour until golden. Bring the sugar and water to the boil and boil until syrupy. Brush over the top of the loaf and leave to cool.
The baking time might be less; I'd check at 40 minutes. There's another malt loaf recipe in this book that's made with ww flour, makes a 2 lb. loaf, and if you'd like that, I'll post it as well. Also there's another recipe with All-Bran.
Thanks again everyone! This is such a friendly and great site! I will be busy trying out these recipes! I'll let you know. Monica
like most Brits, we are all looking for the malt loaf recipe...... there are many around but unfortunately none are quite what we are looking for unless, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,
There was a miller in Wantage, UK called Clarks and they used to make the "stuff" that went to nearly all the bakers in UK for the malt loaf. It is/was called Sultarnex, they would sell Sultarnex to the public with the recipe just add flour etc, but that was it.
I humped a 5 pound bag of it back from Wantage on my last trip to UK.
I have just googled and it appears that Soreen have been making the malt loaf since 1980.
IF by chance you happen to get/find a recipe that tastes like the real thing, please post it in large print... :-)))) qahtan
Monica, have you tried Delia's Sticky Malt Loaf? The ingredients are quite like Soreen's. It's too hot here, at the moment, to even think of baking.
http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/sticky-malt-loaf,842,RC.html
It's getting harder to find fresh yeast in UK supermarkets now. In my area, Tesco have dropped it (they used to give it away on request) but Sainsbury still sell it on the fresh bread counter for 16p per 50 gm (again, you have to ask for it and they go to the back and get it). None of the local bakers sell it and when I queried that, the baker told me they only used dried yeast now because, in his words, it was more reliable. When we were on holiday in France last year, I found one artisan baker (out of three I tried) who still used fresh yeast. He sold me some but a lot dearer than in UK, about 80 cents for 50 gm.
I've been reading a cookery book from the 1800s in recent weeks and find that in there, the author warns that after getting the fresh yeast from the local brewery, it needs to be "washed" several times to get rid of the taste and colour!
Sojourner