More breadmaking fun! This recipe came in the recipe books of both the BM250 and BM450, and I’ve been wanting to make it for a long time. The problem was finding one ingredient – malt extract.
Malt extract supposedly has a distinct taste and adds a wonderful sweetness, color and flavor to bread and baked goods. It was also super hard to find. A few years ago I tried looking for malt extract everywhere, upmarket grocers, the wonderful Bake With Yen, to no avail. In the end I used substitutes like maltose (super sticky and hard to handle), malted milk like Horlicks, but never really knew if this was actually a good alternative to the real thing.
Finally, in 2019 after getting the BM450 and e-Commerce platforms has reached a level of assortment where you can pretty much get anything online, I tried my luck searching for malt extract on Lazada, and ohmigosh I found it! It also didn’t cost a bomb – I was half expecting it to cost a few hundred Ringgit or something stupid like that, but it was less than RM20 for a 1-kg bag. Yay! Remember to keep the malt extract in an airtight container and in a dry place, else the powder might masuk angin and harden.
This turned out really well. Fragrant and sweet and fruity, absolutely lovely when toasted. Try it out!
Malted Raisin and Apricot Bread
Ingredients
Makes 1 500-gram loaf
- 200 ml water
- 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons malt extract
- 350 grams bread flour
- 1 tablespoon non-dairy creamer
- 1/2 teaspoon mixed spice
- 25 grams plus 2 teaspoons caster (superfine) sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 25 grams butter, cut into pieces
- 1 tsp instant yeast
- 40 grams yellow raisins
- 40 grams apricots, chopped
- 2 teaspoons full cream milk
Directions
In your breadmaker pan, add the water…
…and the malt extract.
Add the flour, making sure to completely cover the surface of the liquid.
Add the non-dairy creamer, mixed spice, 25 grams of the sugar, salt, butter and yeast.
Load the raisins and chopped apricots in the automatic dispenser and lock it in place, if using.
Select the Sweet Bread program for a 500-gram loaf at your preferred crust color, and start the machine. If not using an automatic dispenser, add the raisins and apricots when the machine beeps or after the first knead cycle.
When done, remove the bread from the pan and transfer to a wire rack.
Mix the remaining 2 teaspoons sugar with the milk and stir until the sugar is dissolved.
Brush over the top crust while still warm.
Slice and serve. Super yums when toasted.
