Dr Mobeus
Malt Loaf
A small shop-bought malt loaf costs about £1.60 and gives you maybe six thin slices. The same money makes a homemade loaf twice the size, and each slice works out at about 17p. It is one of the cheapest things you can bake that still tastes like a treat.
The batter could not be simpler: strong black tea, malt extract and treacle stirred into flour and sultanas, then a slow, low bake. There is no creaming, no mixer and no eggs, which makes it a good storecupboard bake for the end of the week when the egg box is empty.
Malt loaf is also the great rescuer of past-it fruit. The sultanas plump up in the warm tea as the loaf bakes, and a day wrapped in foil turns the whole crumb dense and fudgy. Cut thick slices, spread with butter, and the cost per slice still barely clears 20p.
Malt Loaf
Ingredients
Method
- Heat the oven to 150C (130C fan). Grease a 900g loaf tin and line the base with baking paper.
- Brew the tea bag in 250ml of boiling water for 5 minutes, then stir in the malt extract, black treacle and brown sugar until dissolved. Leave to cool for 5 minutes.
- Put the flour, salt and sultanas in a mixing bowl and make a well in the middle. Pour in the warm tea mixture and beat with a spoon until you have a thick, sticky batter with no dry pockets of flour.
- Spoon into the tin and level the top. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes until firm to the touch and a skewer comes out clean.
- Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack. Wrap the cold loaf in baking paper and foil and keep it a day before slicing, if you can wait: it becomes stickier and better overnight.
Tips and Variations
Slice and freeze the whole loaf, then pull slices out as needed for lunchboxes or toasted with butter for breakfast. Swap the sultanas for mixed dried fruit or chopped dates, and a pinch of mixed spice or grated nutmeg suits the loaf well. The loaf keeps happily wrapped for 4 to 5 days.
