Spiced Salted Maple Loaf

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Spiced Salted Maple Loaf; moist fluffy cake laced with cosy spices and sticky maple syrup, adorned with crunchy sea salt flakes.

Sinking my teeth into something sweet for breakfast is my favourite part of the day.

The smell of our trusty old La Pavoni espresso machine‘s coffee dripping into a hot cup of oat milk. The sun, filtered through the eternally grey cloud blanket of Scotland, lighting up the room. The joy of a pastry, cookie, or generous slice of something landing on my plate. Just bloody lovely.

While in summer it’s nice to have a lighter bite with some fruit or chocolate decoration, autumn calls for spice. A hefty dose of cosy cinnamon or spicy ginger is always welcome at this time of year.

It’s a wee bit too early for gingerbread, and definitely too early for fruitcake. However, a sticky slice of spiced cake seems perfectly acceptable in late September!

This simple beauty is a Spiced Salted Maple Loaf. It was born from a lazy Friday afternoon baking session, and was perfect as a lazy Saturday morning breakfast. Both sweet and warm at once, it contains a beautiful blend of cosy autumn flavours. It is light and fluffy, while also deeply flavoured and satisfying.

Maple syrup is both swirled into the cake batter, and brushed over the cooled loaf, to ensure a perfectly sweet and rich flavour. A final sprinkle of flaky sea salt beautifully balances out the flavour, keeping your tongue happily guessing with each soft mouthful.

As you can see, it isn’t much to look at on its own. But in smelling it, and tasting it, you’ll understand. It’s perfect if:

• you’re new to baking;
• you’re a lazy baker (like me); or
• you just love eating simple but satisfying cakes.

While the Spiced Salted Maple Loaf takes a little bit of time to bake fully (a deliciously scented 40-50 minutes), it requires very little hands-on time. Once you’ve chucked all the ingredients into a bowl, whisked it into a cake batter, and popped it into a tin, the oven will do all the hard work for you.

In terms of ingredients, the only thing I’d urge you to use is proper maple syrup. Many brands have maple-flavoured syrup that doesn’t quite do the job the real deal does. It’s a tad more expensive than golden syrup or honey, but truly imparts the best flavour.

Otherwise, all you’ll need is a large bowl, a good whisk, some greaseproof paper, and a loaf tin. Sorted.

I hope you like this Spiced Salted Maple Loaf as much as we have, whether it’s tomorrow’s breakfast or today’s afternoon snack. (Btw, it’s even better the next day!)

Want to save this Spiced Salted Maple Loaf for later? You can pin the image below!

To make this Spiced Salted Maple Loaf, simply follow the recipe below:

BE A MAVERICK: why not add stir some chopped pecans or walnuts through the cake mix before baking?

This Spiced Salted Maple Loaf will keep well for up to 4 days in an airtight container or covered cake stand. No need to refrigerate, unless you prefer cold cake!