January's bake of the month

Hello there. I'm Gertie and welcome to the first entry in my ‘Makes and Bakes’ blog.

 

Although it’s called malt loaf it bears no resemblance to the malt loaf that you buy in the supermarket. I won’t name names but you know the one. 

It could go by the name of bran loaf but that sounds too healthy !!!!! This is a lovely, moist fruity loaf which is both delicious hot or cold. It freezes beautifully too. Just cut the loaf into slices then place a piece of greaseproof paper in-between each layer to stop them sticking together. If I’ve forgotten to get a slice (or two…) out of the freezer I pop it into the microwave and set it to defrost for about forty seconds. Out comes lovely warm slices of malt loaf. 

There’s no complicated measuring required to make this as everything is measured using a tea cup. Just remember to use the same tea cup throughout. 

Don't ask me why but you don’t get the same texture if you use bran flakes so I wouldn’t recommend you use them.

As it's so quick to prepare, whenever I decide to make a malt loaf, I always make two.

 

One word of caution. The batter mix sets like concrete to the bowl if it isn’t soaked in water. You have been warned !!!

Malt Loaf

Ingredient:

• One cup of ‘All Bran’ breakfast cereal (or supermarket equivalent) 
• One cup of milk 
• One cup of caster sugar (use slightly less than a cupful if you want to make it less sweet) 
• One cup of sultanas/ raisins, or a mixture of both 
• One cup of self-raising flour (you don’t need to sieve it)

Method: 

• Start the day before you intend to make the loaf. Taking a tea cup put all the ingredients except the flour into a bowl and mix well. Cover with a tea-towel and leave overnight. 
• The next day pre-heat oven: 180º c/Gas Mk 4. Fan oven 160ºc.
• Line a 1lb loaf tin with baking parchment or a non-stick liner.
• Stir in the flour, making sure you scrape the sides of the bowl thoroughly, then pour into the loaf tin.
• Bake for 1 hour. The top of the loaf does have a tendency to burn so cover with tin foil half way throughout the cooking time. 
• Leave to cool slightly before removing it from the tin and placing on a wire rake. 

Gertie xx