Michelle Darmody: Malt pleasers — from rich fruit loaf to chocolate malt tart
This loaf cake is best served with a strong cup of tea.
Malt extract adds a very distinctive flavour to baking. You will find it in health food shops or on the shelves of larger supermarkets. It is a concentrated and condensed syrup made by extracting sugars from malted grain, usually barley.
It has been used by bakers since ancient times but in recent years its popularity has waned. It has a toasted, nutty flavour; it also adds a nice caramel colour to your bakes. Most notably it gives flavour to Maltesers or is used in brewing beer.
As with a lot of rich fruit cakes, the malt loaf included here rests very well and is as tasty, or even more so, after a day or two, when the flavours mellow and blend. It also freezes very well. I would slice it before freezing and, if you have the time, place a little piece of parchment between the slices.
Malt fruit loaf
This cake tastes even better a few days after you bake it
Servings
8Preparation Time
4 minsCooking Time
1 hours 10 minsTotal Time
1 hours 14 minsCourse
BakingIngredients
175g malt extract
75g muscovado sugar
150ml strong tea
100g golden sultanas
50g raisins
50g dried cranberries
50g dried apricots chopped
50g pitted prunes, chopped
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp baking powder, sieved
½ tsp bread soda, sieved
250g plain flour
Method
Preheat your oven to 150°C and line a 2-pound loaf tin with parchment.
Place all of the ingredients except the flour and raising agents into a bowl and combine.
Sieve the raising agents into the flour and mix well. Add this to the cake mixture until completely combined. Scoop into your lined tin.
Bake for an hour and 10 minutes until firm to touch. The cake should have risen evenly, and you can test it with a skewer. Brush some extra malt on top if you wish to glaze the loaf. Allow to cool in the tin.
Chocolate malt tart
When baking the pastry case blind, it is best to brush it with egg yolk before removing it from the oven. This creates a seal that helps prevent the filling from seeping into the pastry case and creating a soggy bottom.
Servings
10Preparation Time
10 minsCooking Time
1 hours 20 minsTotal Time
1 hours 30 minsCourse
BakingIngredients
For the pastry:
50g golden caster sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten and an extra egg yolk
225g plain flour
140g cold butter, cut into small cubes
For the filling:
200ml cream
40ml milk
4 tbsp malt extract
150g dark chocolate, broken into small even-sized pieces
50g milk chocolate, broken into small even-sized pieces
2 eggs
20g golden caster sugar
Method
To make the pastry case mix the sugar with the egg and set aside.
Rub the butter into the flour until it looks like rough breadcrumbs. Add the egg mixture to the flour and combine it with a fork. Finally, bring it together with your hands and place it into your fridge for at least two hours to firm up.
Preheat your oven to 180°C and grease and flour an 8-inch tart tin with a loose base. You can also place a disc of parchment on the base.
Roll the pastry on a floured surface into a disc about 10" in width. Gently nudge this into your prepared tart case and neaten up the edges. Cover the pastry with a sheet of parchment and place some baking beads on top. Bake blind for 15 minutes. Remove the parchment and brush the base with some egg yolk, bake again for another five minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Do not remove it from the tin.
When your base has cooled down heat oven to 140°C and whisk the eggs and sugar for the filing until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
Heat the milk, cream and malt together in a heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat until it is shivering. Turn off the heat and stir in the chocolate until melted.
Fold the eggs through the chocolate mixture and scoop into your cooled pastry case. Bake for about 50 minutes until the filling is set. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin. Place it into the fridge to firm up before serving.
