Malt Loaf/Raisin Bread

I'm not sure what makes this "malt loaf", other than it has malt in it, but so what?  The raisins are a far more prominent and distinguishing feature -- in the U.S. this would just be called raisin bread.  Was it supposed to taste like malt?  I don't know that I'd be able to pick that up amongst all the other stronger flavors.  But, ya know, Paul Hollywood is the Bread King, so if he wants to call it malt loaf, so be it.

For a single loaf, I cut the original two-loaf recipe in half and made some adjustments.  Here's what I used:

12.5g unsalted butter 

1½ teaspoons soft dark brown sugar 

1½ tablespoons malt extract* 

1 tablespoons black treacle dark molasses

2 teaspoons orange zest 

175g 125g strong white bread white flour with some high-gluten flour

50g 100g strong wholemeal bread whole wheat flour 

4g (about 1 teaspoon) 1½ teaspoon salt 

7g 5 teaspoons fast-action active dried yeast** 

115g sultanas 

125ml warm water 

1½ teaspoons runny honey, for glazing

Grease one 500g loaf tin (9.5x 4.25 x2) with butter. Place the butter, sugar, malt extract, molasses, and orange zest in a small saucepan and heat gently, stirring, until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.  Mix the flours together in a large bowl and add the salt to one side of the bowl and the yeast to the other. Scatter over the sultanas. Pour in the cooled malt syrup mixture and the warm water and mix well with a wooden spoon until thoroughly combined.  Turn the mixture out onto a floured surface and knead gently but thoroughly for a few minutes to bring the dough together. Roll into a sausage the length of the loaf tins and place in the prepared tin. Place in a roomy plastic bag that won’t touch the top of the dough as it rises. Leave to prove for 2 hours until the dough has risen above the top of the tin.  

Pre-heat the oven to 375°. Bake the loaf on the middle shelf for 25–35 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. As you remove the loaf from the oven, brush the top with the warmed honey to glaze. Leave in the tin for 5 minutes, then carefully tip out and place on a wire rack to cool. Serve with butter.

 

* I'm not sure what I used for malt extract. I might have used malt syrup, or I might have left it out. (That would explain why the loaf didn't taste malty, lol.)

 

**I'm sure I used far too much yeast. I never pay attention to "active dry" versus "fast acting" versus "quick rise" versus "instant" or any other variation of dry yeast. If it's dry, I just use an equivalent amount. I thought they were the same! But according to the Traditional Oven yeast converter, they are not!  I probably used active dry; the recipe's "fast action" yeast is probably what we call "rapid rise", or maybe even "instant". According to their converter, 7 grams of instant yeast converts to 3.3 teaspoons of active dry (and just over 2 teaspoons of instant.) My 5 teaspoons would have been up to double what was called for. Oops. (I usually use a scant tablespoon for a large, heavy, whole wheat loaf, so this really was excessive, even for me.)

 

I baked this in a 8x3" tin, which worked well.  It took only ½ hour to rise, no doubt because of the excess yeast. The scent from the orange zest was strong but the taste was delicate.  I didn't exactly measure, but I used about half whole wheat flour, and used some high-gluten flour for the white, since none of my flours were bread flour. Although I increased the salt, it was still a little light. I had to add a LOT more water, but I'm not sure my conversions were correct (obviously not on the yeast), or it could have been the extra whole wheat flour and a dry climate combo.

 

Conclusion:  Despite my crazy quantities, this was delicious.  (As I always say, bread happens.) I would like to try this with a more traditional process, perhaps with a little sourdough starter. Someday. 

Recipe: Hollywood Malt Loaf via Bakery Bits