Malt loaf with homemade butter
- Published: 30 Apr 14
- Updated: 18 Mar 24
A wonderfully rich, sticky malt loaf recipe, with homemade butter to slather on top. Teatime heaven.
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Serves 12 -
Hands-on time 40 min, oven time 1 hour 20-30 min, plus soaking
Nutrition
- Calories
- 300kcals
- Fat
- 15g (8.7g saturated)
- Protein
- 4.5g
- Carbohydrates
- 37.5g (22.2g sugars)
- Fibre
- 1.3g
- Salt
- 0.3g
delicious. tips
Malt flour adds an extra bittersweet hit to malt loaf. Find it online at flourbin.com or, if you can’t get hold of it, use an extra 25g plain flour. It’s important to remove all the buttermilk from the butter – any left behind could turn the butter rancid. If you prefer salted butter, add sea salt to taste just before shaping. Some people add it to the cream before whisking, but you’ll lose some of the saltiness when you remove the buttermilk.
Malt loaf benefits from a couple of days’ maturing, during which time it will become stickier and richer. Wrap in baking paper and keep in a tin. The butter will keep in the fridge, well-wrapped, for up to a week, or freeze half of it for up to 3 months.
Malt extract is made from germinated barley grains, which are boiled to release their sugars, then concentrated into a treacly paste.
To sterilise a mixing bowl, wash in warm soapy water, rinse well, then fill with hot water from the kettle. Drain and allow to dry, upside-down, on a clean tea towel.
Butter paddles are small, ridged pieces of wood that are used to shape handmade butter. Look out for them at antiques markets, or buy new ones online (£7.99 from lakeland.co.uk). They need to be soaked in iced water for at least 30 minutes before using, to prevent the butter sticking.