Caramel slices have never - until now - been high on my list of sweets. Usually the biscuit base is too dry and the rest just sweet and rather tasteless. Not so with these! Muntons gave me a recipe to try using their Spraymalt (dried malt extract, DME) and malt extract in place of some of the sugars and golden syrup in the traditional recipe, in both the base and the caramel, from a staff member there called Patsy. What a transformation. The overtones of Ovaltine/Maltesers makes these really delicious with a much more complex flavour. It has been a job to keep them long enough to grab a photo.

I've always loved malt-loaf - the bought stuff I'm afraid - but only as I have never been able to make my own that comes close to that moist malty flavour that when spread with butter makes a delicious snack perfect for taking on a walk to bridge to gap before reaching the pub.

If you make bread then you will usually use the basic ingredients, flour, or a combination of your choice; water; a little salt and yeast (be that fresh, fried, sourdough, a backing ferment or whatever). You might, if using a bread machine, or if you want a more cake-like bread, add some milk, egg or oils to the dough. Then perhaps some seeds such as sunflower, pumpkin, poppy or sesame. There is a range of other, wholesome ingredients that most bakers, especially those who bake at home are not aware of: these are malted ingredients. Read More

Malted ingredients, like other complex flavours, such as coffee, chocolate, bread, beers and wines attract attempts to describe their smells and flavours which are very subjective. We've done ourselves it by talking about RBM as having a hint of coffee about it. But, malted ingredients have much more to them than that: they have characteristics that alter the way the dough and bread behaves, looks, feels and proves. Read More

Just arrived at BakeryBits is Munton's RBM or Roasted Barley Malt Flour. Just the smell of it, with a hint of coffee, is enough to start salivating. It is used in very small quantities, around 0.5%-1% (5-10g per 1kg flour) in brown breads, rolls or bagels to give them a darker, richer colour and a more complex, malty flavour. It can also be added to rye breads to give them similarly warmed colour. Read More

Not strictly a bread-related post, but one for the start of the school summer holidays. Muntons has a string of uses for its malted ingredients up its long sleeves. The latest tip from them is to add some Muntons dried malt extract (spraymalt) to your kids' milkshakes. Read More