Nigel Slater’s Sticky, seeded fruit bread and malt loaf.

A cold winter’s afternoon, almost dusk, is the time I need a slice of malt loaf.
Cut thick and buttered, it is deliciously nostalgic.
It occurred to me that the basic loaf could be embellished with seeds and more dried fruits, to give a treacly, almost cake-like bread suitable for eating with cheese, in the way fruit cake can be eaten with cheddar.

Makes 1 loaf
150g malt extract
100g light muscovado sugar
2 tbsp black treacle

250g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
a pinch salt
50g rolled oats
100g stoned weight prunes

2 eggs
125ml black tea
100g sultanas or raisins
5 tbsp pumpkin seeds
4 tbsp linseeds 4 tbsp

To finish
malt extract a little more
pumpkin seeds 1 tbsp
linseeds 1 tbsp
full-flavoured blue cheese to serve

You will need a deep, rectangular cake tin measuring 20cm x 9cm lined with baking paper.

Preheat the oven to 160C/gas mark 3.
- Gently warm the malt extract, muscovado sugar and black treacle in a small saucepan, without stirring, until the sugar has dissolved.
- Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and oats in a large mixing bowl.
Cut the prunes into small pieces and stir them in.
- Make the tea.
- Break the eggs into a small bowl, beat lightly with a fork.

Pour the warm malt and sugar mixture into the flour together with the tea and the beaten eggs.
Then fold the sultanas, pumpkin seeds and linseeds into the batter.

Scoop the mixture, which will be soft and runny, like a gingerbread batter, into the lined cake tin.
Bake for 60-75 minutes until risen and lightly springy.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin.
While the cake cools, brush the surface with a little more malt extract and sprinkle with the extra pumpkin seeds and linseeds.
Leave to thoroughly cool before slicing and serving with blue cheese.

- Nigel Slater’s comforting cheese recipes | Food | The Guardian

- Nigel Slater’s malt loaf recipes | Food | The Guardian