Rye malt loaf

To begin, soak the raisins in the boiling water with the black teabags for a minimum of 20 minutes, removing the tea bags after 5 minutes. If preferred, you can prepare the raisins in advance and soak them the night before. Use a hand blender to pulse the raisins into smaller chunks – don’t blend the mixture into a liquid, as you still want discernible bits of raisin in the final loaf

Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a bowl

Add all of the wet ingredients to the pulsed raisins and mix until the malt extract and treacle have dissolved into the liquid. Add all the dry ingredients to this wet mixture and combine thoroughly

Grease a 1lb silicone loaf tin (you can use a regular loaf tin if you don’t have a silicone one, but make sure you grease and line it as the mixture is very wet and will be hard to remove from the tin if it is not properly lined)

Transfer the mixture to the tin and leave to rise for 2 hours. You won’t notice a huge increase in volume in the dough as it is very dense and sticky, but the yeast will serve to leaven the loaf during baking

Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4

Bake the loaf for 1 hour, then brush the top with malt extract to create a glossy finish. Leave to cool in the tin for 20 minutes, then remove and set on a wire rack to cool completely

Once the loaf has cooled, wrap in parchment, then cling film, and leave at room temperature for 2–3 days. Maturing the loaf like this will help it to develop a moist and sticky interior and a deep, rich flavour. Serve toasted with lots of butter!