Sweet delights
Traditionally treacle loaf wasn’t eaten as a daily staple, it was a rare treat due to the amount of treacle used. However, it became more common during the 20th century.
In my family it was a rare treat indeed, since the focus was very much on “less sugar is better”.As an adult I occasionally bake these loaves, and enjoy them with cheese, Swedish caviar or both!
This bread is made using a mix of wheat and white rye – the finest rye flour available. It also contains black treacle, but if you can’t get hold of that a light treacle, such as Golden Syrup, will do.
Sirapslimpa - black treacle loaf
This bread is fairly sweet in flavour and goes very well with a more savoury topping, such as salami, cheese, Swedish caviar or a combination of cheese and caviar or cheese and salami.
Ingredients
- 50 g fresh yeast
- 250 ml milk
- 250 ml water
- 100 ml black treacle
- 2 tsp salt
- 110 g white rye flour
- 700 g strong flour wheat
- 100 g butter room temperature
For brushing
- 1 tbsp coffee
- 1 tbsp black treacle
Instructions
- Crumble the yeast in a bowl.
- Heat the water and milk to 37 C, then disolve the yeast in the liquid in a bowl.
- Add treacle, salt, white rye flour, half the wheat flour and butter to the bowl.
- Start working the dough and gradually add the rest of the flour until you reach a good texture. The dough should be fairly firm, but not hard, and no longer stick to the bowl. Keep working the dough for 10 minutes if using a mixer or twice that time if you kneed by hand.
- Cover the bowl leave to rise until double in size.
- Turn out the dough onto a surface dusted with flour, divide into two equal parts and form loaves.
- Grease two tins of about 1.5 liters with butter and put the loaves in them.
- Cover and leave to proof until the loaves spring back when gently prodded, around 30 minutes. Whilst you wait, heat the oven to 200C (400F, gas mark 6).
- Bake in the lower part of the oven for 35-40 minutes.
- Mix coffee and treacle and brush the loaves as soon as they come out of the oven.
- Let rest in the tin for 10 minutes before placing the loaves on a wire rack and letting cool completely.