We recently bought a box of mixed ephemera at auction.
There were quite a few vintage calendars in the box including this charming Esso calendar dating from 1958. Each month is represented by a traditional activity for the time of year…
…and on the reverse is a recipe from a different county of the UK. I liked the sound of the black bread from Buckinghamshire so decided to test it out for this week’s Cakes & Bakes. I’m not sure whether it actually hails from Buckinghamshire or not, I couldn’t find any mention of a ‘Buckinghamshire black bread’ on the internet anywhere. Have you ever heard of it?
From its list of ingredients, I presumed it would be a sweet bread, perfect for having with an afternoon cup of tea.
It was really easy to rustle up, I already had everything in the store cupboard. It was quick too, no waiting for the dough to rise; just mix, into a tin and in the oven – job done!
I’ve changed the original cooking temperature and duration. The top began to look a little too ‘black’ and it was definitely fully cooked after an hour.
It’s reminiscent of malt loaf but less sticky and more… ‘treacley’! We had a few slices with a healthy layering of butter – divine!
If you fancy giving this recipe a try you can pin it from here for later!
Black bread
Ingredients
- 450 g/1lb wholemeal flour
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- pinch of salt
- 300 ml/½pt milk
- 1 egg
- 300 ml/½pt black treacle
- 225 g/8oz dried fruit I used sultanas
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 175ºC/350ºF/Gas mark 4
- Grease a 1kg/2lb loaf tin
- In a large mixing bowl, sift the salt and bicarbonate with the flour
- Mix in the milk, egg and treacle before adding the dried fruit
- Pour the mixture into the greased loaf tin and bake for about an hour. If the top begins to look too dark, cover with tin foil
- Turn out on to a wire rack to cool
