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The Great British Bake Off is back!!! Yaaaay! As those of you who check out my blog regularly may know, I’m trying to make all of the Bake Off Technical Challenges. So this year I thought I would try to do a proper “Bake Off Bakealong” – i.e. making every week’s Technical Challenge as the weeks go by. I will try my best – don’t hold me to it though! So first up it’s Prue’s Malt Loaf!
Week 1 of the 2020 Bake Off started with the usual “cake week” we see every year. The bakers had to make Mini Rolls for their signature bake (stay tuned for the Bake Off Box recipe this month which features Salted Caramel and Chocolate Mini Rolls) and had to make an anti-gravity cake for the showstopper challenge. This week’s Technical Challenge was set by Prue and saw the bakers tackle her Malt Loaf. So that’s what we’ll be starting with!
What is Malt Loaf?
You might be wondering – what on earth is a malt loaf? A lot of people may not have heard of it before, but it is a British Classic! The malt loaf cake is dark in colour and has a chewy, bread-like structure. It’s not overly sweet, contains malt extract, and has chopped raisins (and in this case also prunes) running through it. Malt Loaf tastes best when you spread a thick layer of butter on it!
Although it’s a classic, it’s maybe not overly popular – especially among the younger generation. To be honest, malt loaf does make me think of my Grandma! It’s something she would ALWAYS have in the house, stored away somewhere in a biscuit tin, ready to be brought out for visitors. But when there is anything else on offer besides some buttered malt loaf, the malt loaf always stays untouched!😂 I can’t really blame people, I was never the biggest fan. But I have to say, Prue’s Malt Loaf was really delicious, especially with the candied citrus peel on top! I might even make this again at some stage!
Prue’s Malt Loaf – How To Make It
Prue’s Malt Loaf was definitely a good challenge to start this season of Bake Off! It wasn’t too difficult to make, but not overly easy either. On the show, the bakers had to make the malt loaf, candied peel to decorate the top, and their own butter. The recipe for Prue’s Malt Loaf is on the Bake Off webpage here, but doesn’t actually include the candied citrus peel and butter. Lucky for you, I’ve got you covered and have included a recipe and instructions for you below!
Let’s quickly go through the three components of this technical challenge before we get into the recipe!
The Malt Loaf Cake
The most difficult thing about making this malt loaf cake was actually sourcing the ingredients!!! I searched high and low in the supermarkets for Malt Extract, I ended up having to go to a special health food shop (Holland & Barret) to find it! It was just over £3, which is not tooooooo expensive (and you can use the rest another time)… But yeah, not easy to find.
The recipe also calls for using flame raisins. I managed to find them in ASDA and saw them in Morrisons, too. They are different from the normal dried raisins you can buy as they are bigger, juicier and not quite as “dry” if that makes sense. They were more expensive though again, £1.69 in ASDA and £2 in Morrisons.
Dark brown sugar, dried prunes, and black treacle may also be difficult to find in other countries but they were at least easy to find here in the UK. Overall though, there are a few “unique” and slightly pricier items on the ingredient list, so making Prue’s Malt Cake is definitely not cheap! Haha, could just spend £2 on a Soreen’s Malt Loaf!🤣 But noooo – we make everything ourselves in this household!
Finally, you will also need a 900g/2lb loaf tin – something most people will probably have! I used my Bake Off Box loaf tin I got when I made the Chocolate and Hazelnut Babka.
The Candied Citrus Peel
I used a mix of orange and lemon peel in the below recipe. Both taste really nice, but candied orange peel is faster to make if you are wanting to spend less time on it.
The citrus peel is thinly sliced and blanched in water a few times to get rid of the bitterness. Then you simmer it in a sugary syrup for around an hour until soft and translucent. Finally, the citrus peel is drained and tossed in granulated sugar before leaving it to dry. Easy (or should I say easy peasy lemon squeezy)!😉
The Homemade Butter
Butter is actually so easy to make – but I had never made it before! All you need to do is essentially what you usually never want to do with double cream: overwhip it! When you over-whisk cream, it turns to butter, so usually that’s the last thing you want.
But when you’re actually wanting to make butter, all you do is overwhip the cream until lumps of butter form and they separate from the buttermilk. You then take the butter and squeeze as much of the excess liquid from it as possible. To make the butter last longer, you can rinse off the remaining buttermilk in a cold water and then pat it dry. And that’s how you make butter!
More Bake Off Technical Challenges
I am absolutely obsessed with the Great British Bake Off and have challenged myself to attempt all of (or at least the ones that are “realistic” – I won’t be making pitta breads on a camp fire in the back garden!) the technical challenges from the programme! I have tried quite a few already, so make sure you check out some of the other recipes and see how I got on!
- Mary Berry’s Religieuses
- Mary Berry’s Fraisier Cake
- Paul Hollywood’s Hand-raised Chicken, Bacon and Apricot Pies
- Mary Berry’s Bakewell Tart with feathered Icing
- Paul’s Mini Pineapple Upside Down Cakes
- Mary Berry’s Frosted Walnut Layer Cake
- Paul Hollywood’s Cottage Loaf
- Mary Berry’s Homemade Jaffa Cakes
- Paul Hollywood’s Wagon Wheel Biscuits
- Mary Berry’s Victoria Sponge Cake
- Paul Hollywood’s Mini Pork Pies
- Mary Berry’s Viennese Whirls
- Prue’s Vegan Chocolate and Raspberry Tarts (S2UC Special)
- Pizza Star Bread (Junior Bake Off)
- Mary Berry’s Coffee and Walnut Battenberg Cake
- Paul’s Crusty White Cob
- Paul Hollywood’s Rainbow Bagels
- Prue Leith’s Malt Loaf
- Paul’s Jammy Biscuits
- Paul Hollywood’s Olive Ciabatta Bread Sticks with Homemade Tzatziki
- Prue Leith’s Sticky Toffee Puddings with Sesame Tuiles
- Prue Leith’s Prinzregententorte
- Paul Hollywood’s Baklava (22cm)
- Paul’s Caramel Biscuit Bars (Twix)
- Prue Leith’s Vegan Sausage Rolls
- Prue’s Sablé Breton Cake
- Paul Hollywood’s Sticky Belgian Buns
- Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Icing
- Prue’s Garibaldi Biscuits with Feathered Chocolate Icing
- Paul Hollywood’s Pain au Raisins
- Paul’s Spicy Beef Tacos
- Paul Hollywood’s S’mores
- Prue Leith’s Pistachio Praline Ice Cream Cones
- Vegetable Spring Rolls
- Prue’s Vertical Chocolate, Hazelnut, and Raspberry Tarts
- Paul Hollywood’s Devonshire Splits
Prue’s Malt Loaf (with Candied Peel & Butter) | Bake Off Technical Challenge
Recipe
Ingredients:
FOR THE MALT LOAF CAKE
- 2 black tea bags
- 150ml boiling water
- 100g soft, pitted prunes, finely chopped
- 200g flame raisins
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 150g malt extract, plus extra for glazing
- 40g black treacle
- 100g dark brown sugar
- 250g plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
FOR THE CANDIED LEMON AND ORANGE PEEL
- 1 lemon
- 1 orange
- 250g granulated sugar, plus extra for coating
FOR THE BUTTER
- 200ml double cream
- Pinch of salt (optional)
- Bowl of cold water
YOU WILL ALSO NEED
- 900g/2lb loaf tin
- Baking paper
- Microwave-safe bowl
- Electric hand or free-standing whisk
Method:
- Place two tea bags in a mug and pour in 150ml of boiling water. Leave to tea to brew for 5 minutes, then remove the tea bags.
- Add the prunes and raisins to a microwave-safe bowl, then pour the tea over them. Cover the bowl with cling film and use a fork to pierce a few holes in the top. Then microwave on full power for 4 minutes. Remove the bowl from the microwave, take off the clingfilm, and stir in the bicarbonate of soda. Then leave the fruit to stand for 10 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 170°C/150°C fan (325°F). Lightly grease the loaf tin with melted butter and line the sides and ends with baking paper.
- Pour the malt extract, treacle and brown sugar into a saucepan and cook over a low heat, for 2–3 minutes, until the sugar dissolves. You can check this by rubbing a bit of the mix between your fingers and see if it is still grainy but be careful as it may be quite hot. Remove the mix from the heat and cool for 5 minutes.
- Add the flour and baking powder to a mixing bowl and make a well in the centre. Pour in the sugary malt mixture and the tea-soaked fruit and remaining soaking liquid. Carefully stir everything together until all ingredients start to come together, then add the beaten eggs and mix well. Make sure all the flour is fully incorporated, but don’t overmix.
- Pour the malt loaf cake mixture into the lined tin and bake it for 1–1¼ hours, until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove the loaf from the oven, brush the top with malt extract, then leave the malt loaf to cool completely in the tin. The cake is best eaten 1-3 days after baking, so if you have the patience, wrap it in baking paper and tin foil and leave for a few days before slicing.
- While the cake is in the oven, you can prepare the candied lemon and orange peel. Wash and quarter the fruit, then carefully peel the skin away from the flesh. Then cut the peel into thin strips, about 3-4mm wide.
- Add the lemon peel to a saucepan filled with cold water. Bring to the boil and boil for 10 minutes. Drain through a sieve and rinse under cold water. Repeat this step a further 2 times, adding the orange peel during the last boil (the orange doesn’t need to be blanched as often as it is less bitter). Drain the peel after a final blanch and set aside.
- Then add 250g of caster sugar and 250g of water to the saucepan and bring to the boil, allowing the sugar to dissolve. Add in the blanched fruit peel and reduce to a simmer. Simmer the fruit for 30-60 minutes until soft and translucent.
- Drain the peel and toss in some granulated sugar until coated. Spread the candied peel on a piece of baking paper and set aside to dry. Once dried, you can use it to decorate the top of the malt cake. It should stick to the top of the cake nicely!
- To make the butter, whisk the double cream until solid butter form and separates from the buttermilk liquid. If you want to make salty butter, whisk in a pinch of salt, too. Remove the butter from the bowl, a chunk at a time, using your hands to squeeze out as much of the liquid as you can.
- To make the butter last longer, dip it in a bowl with cold water to rinse off any of the remaining buttermilk and pat with a piece of kitchen towel. Shape the butter into your desired shape, wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate until needed.
- Serve Prue’s Malt Loaf decorated with the candied citrus peel and cut into slices, spread with a thick layer of butter!
