Malted Caramel Slices
May 10th, 2010 | 
Author: 
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.
Here is the recipe – simply add the Spraymalt with the sugar and smell the difference right away!
Biscuit Base:
340g plain flour
225g butter
55g Sugar
55g Spraymalt light
Pinch of salt
Preheat your oven to 160C, 325F or gas mark 3. Grease and flour (or line) a baking tray – a Swiss-roll tray is ideal. Put the flour and salt into a mixing bowl, rub in the butter then stir in the sugar and Spraymalt light. Lightly work the mixture together until it forms a smooth stiff ball of dough, then, roll into the baking tray. Prick all over with a fork and chill for 15 minutes. Bake until golden brown (about 20-25 minutes).
Caramel Filling:
170g butter
40 g sugar
40 g Spraymalt Light
50 g Light Malt Extract
14 cl can of sweetened condensed milk
Place all ingredients into a saucepan, heat over low heat and stir continuously. Let simmer gently for 5 to 7 minutes, still stirring, let cool slightly then spread over biscuit base. Place in fridge and cool.
Chocolate Topping:
150-200g bar of chocolate (dark or milk – we used a bar of dark Green and Black cooking chocolate)
Melt the chocolate in the microwave for about a minute or in a bowl over a pan of water. Spread over the cooled caramel. Allow to cool – avoid the ‘fridge at this stage or the chocolate may develop a bloom (discolouring).
Slice and eat!
Posted in Ingredients, Recipes | 
Tags: dme, malt flour, malted, malty flavour, munton, muntons, spraymalt
They sound very delicious Patrick! Is Light Malt extract one of your new ingredients? I will have to go and have a look right now!
Just a quick comment Patrick, I thought from what I have read in baking books and from conversations on Dan Lepard’s forum that DME stood for diastatic malt extract but it seems in fact to stand for dried malt extract, which isn’t diastatic. Lots of possible confusion here for beginner bakers reading up about malt and bread!
It might be worth saying here that if you want the diastatic effect, say to make a softer textured malted loaf, you would need to look at using Diax, not Spraymalt which is primarily used to give flavour and sweetness, though I fancy it also helps promote good crust colour too in white breads.
I hope this is a helpful comment, I am not expert in any of this
Hi Joanna
Yes, Muntons will tell you that DME is not a precise term and they would not use it, but suggest it is likely to be Dried Malt Extract since Diastatic Malt Flour doesn’t fit the initials. Also, Muntons doesn’t do a Diastatic Malt Extract.
Diax (Diastatic Malt Flour) is the flour used for softer crumb and improved crust. Dried Malt Extract (Spraymalt) is a malty, powdered sugar replacement that can be used in cakes (like the recipe above) to impart a malty flavour and provide an option to those wanting to avoid cane sugar.
Hope that helps with the confusion!