Sultana Malt Loaf – Mary Berry’s Baking Bible

Malt loaf is a favourite after school snack with my boys and it’s low sugar/fat content makes it popular with Jon. However I’ve never made it before, in fact it had never occurred to me to make it before I came across it in Mary Berry’s Baking Bible. Mary says this is better after a couple of days. I’ve hidden one of the loaves so we can try as when Aidan came home from school 1/3 a loaf went. It is nicer than commercial malt loaf, not as squidgy and the sultana’s sank to the bottom which was a disappointment. I think this might be the first time I’ve used a Mary Berry recipe that didn’t work perfectly for me. I must find out why they sank, usually it’s because the fruit isn’t quite dry but mine was and I tossed it in the flour before adding the liquid ingredients.

It took me a while to get around to buying 1 lb loaf tins and although the quantities make 2 x 1lb loaves I wasn’t convinced a 2lb loaf would be squidgy enough by the time it had baked through. It also took me ages to find malt extract and because I didn’t make malt loaves straight after I found it I can no longer remember where I bought it. Malt extract used to be sold as a dietary supplement for children so you should definitely be able to buy it in health stores if you can’t find it in your local supermarket.

Ingredients

• 225g/8oz plain flour
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 225g/8oz Sultanas
• 50g/2 oz demerara sugar
• 175g/6oz malt extract
• 1 tbsp black treacle
• 2 large eggs
• 150 ml/5 floz cold black tea

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 150C/Gas Mark 2. Grease/line two 450g/1 lb loaf tins
2. Gently hear the sugar, malt extract and black treacle together and put aside to cool.
3. Measure flour, bicarb of soda and baking powder into a bowl and stir in the sultanas.
4. pour sugar/malt mix onto the dry ingredients along with cold tea and beaten eggs and beat together until smooth.
5. Pour into the prepared tins (see below). It is a rather pale and very runny mixture and easy to get between the tin and the liner.
6. Bake in preheated oven for about 1 hour or until well risen and firm to the touch.
7. Leave in tin for 10 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack

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