Groningen nut loaf with a spiced crumb
The nuts go underneath and on top of the dough. A low oven temperature gives this firm spiced loaf time to cook right through.
Editorial team Holland Magazine ·
Visit Groningen shares a nut loaf made with flour, milk and mixed baking spices. We develop that base with walnuts and almonds, a small tin and a doneness check; we make no claim to a secret bakery recipe.
Times are guidelines; preheat during preparation where possible. Allow extra time to cool food before storing it.
Equipment
20 × 10 cm metal loaf tin, bowl, cooling rack, skewer
Ingredients
- 250 g wheat flour
- 8 g baking powder
- 100 g soft brown sugar
- 150 ml whole milk, at room temperature
- 75 g unsalted walnuts
- 75 g unsalted almonds
- 10 g Dutch mixed baking spices (koek- en speculaaskruiden)
- 1 g salt
- 10 g butter for the tin
Method
- Preheat a conventional oven to 140 °C. Grease the loaf tin with the butter. Roughly chop the nuts and divide into two equal portions.
- Mix the flour, baking powder, sugar, baking spices and salt. Stir in the milk to make a sticky dough; it is thicker than cake batter.
- Spread half the nuts over the base. Spoon in the dough, smooth with a damp spoon and gently press the remaining nuts onto the top.
- Bake for about 75 minutes. Insert a skewer into the centre, avoiding a nut: it should not come out with wet dough. Bake for another 10 minutes if needed and check again. Loosely cover darkening nuts with aluminium foil.
- Leave in the tin for 10 minutes. Carefully loosen the edges, turn out onto a rack and cool for another 20 minutes before slicing.
Storage
Let the loaf cool completely and wrap it well to prevent drying out; store in a cool, dry cupboard. For this homemade recipe we allow 2 days; freeze slices if you want to eat them later. Reheating is not necessary.
Allergens
Contains wheat (gluten), milk, walnuts and almonds. Check the spice mix for other allergens.
Our own version based on the cited regional sources. Not test-cooked by the editorial team; timings are a guide and the stated doneness is decisive.