Marmite Bread

Marmite bread

I have already published this on my blog at Veg Patch Kitchen, but I wanted to make sure I shared it here too as it is too good not to. This recipe was inspired by James Morton from his book Brilliant Bread, now of my favourite books on the subject (you can read about my other favourites here) and is a bread that people can choose to make on my full-day Bread Basics course. Obviously, the very idea of Marmite bread makes some people shudder with horror. If this includes you I urge you to try it at least once, you can reduce the Marmite to 30g for a more subtle flavour that just lends a delicious savoury edge to your loaf which is wonderful with soups and stews and then for an extra bonus it makes wonderful toast, that you can spread with extra Marmite.

Note of caution though – Marmite is salty so reduce the salt that you would normally add otherwise the loaf will be too salty. Also, don’t do what I did once and overdo it on the marmite front. I got cocky in a class one day and added two spoonfuls instead of my usual one spoonful and whilst everyone else’s loaves rose beautifully mine remained as flat as a pancake. The saltiness of the Marmite will kill the yeast if you go overboard. Lesson, well and truly learned.

500g strong white flour or you could replace 100g with 100g wholemeal or 50g rye & 50g wholemeal
5g easy bake/ instant yeast or 15g fresh yeast (remember that you can reduce the yeast and allow the bread to rise longer)
5g fine salt
40g Marmite
340-380g water (depending on flour choice)

Place the flour, salt and yeast in a large bowl and mix together. Weigh the Marmite out in a jug and pour over 100g hot water and stir to dissolve. Allow to cool a little and then add to the flour. Add another 200g of warm or cool water (if you use cool water your dough will take longer to prove which improves the texture and flavour). Start to mix, adding splashes of water in until you get a dough that is soft and slightly sticky. Make sure that there are no dry bits in your dough. Leave to rest for at least ten minutes or up to an hour depending on how your day is going.

Knead your dough or use the stretch and fold method as I demonstrate in this video.

Cover well and leave to prove until airy, remember it will take longer for it to prove if you used less yeast or cooler water. You can also pop it in the fridge at this point for several hours or overnight if that fits better into your day.

Shape your dough. I show you how to shape for a loaf tin or as a batard/ bloomer in this video.

Cover with clingfilm or similar, remember to oil it well so it doesn’t stick to the loaf and deflate it. Allow to prove, again this can happen overnight in the fridge if it suits you.

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees centigrade, gas mark 7 or use the floor of the roasting oven of the Aga. Steam the oven well as you put your loaf in, I like to use a plant mister to do this, spraying several times (avoiding the glass door and light). Bake for 30 minutes, check that it is baked by tapping on the bottom, it should sound hollow or insert a temperature probe and check that it reaches 90 degrees centigrade. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack and I promise you will love it even if you hate Marmite.

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12 thoughts on “Marmite Bread”

  1. shaheen kitchen

    Ah I would love this. Thanks for sharing the recipe, may give it a go now that i have some flour for making bread.

  2. Love the sound of this, thanks for sharing. I have a 4-oven Aga so was wondering if you steam the aga oven as well? Never tried it before and didn’t know if it was just recommended for conventional ovens. Thanks

    1. Hi, yes I do steam the Aga too. I place the loaf (whether in a tin or freeform) on the floor of the roasting oven to bake. It makes the perfect baking stone. I hope you love this bread as much as I do.
      Kath

  3. I too love this recipe – I make cheese & marmite sourdough. I did find my loaves don’t rise as well as regular plain sourdough – guess it is the salt content so thanks for info!

    1. No, it needs to be covered to stop it crusting over on the surface. you can pop a dinner plate over the top of the bowl, use a large inflated plastic bag, clingfilm, beeswax wrap. Anything that keeps the air from causing a crust.

  4. Made this last week, not enough marmite for me so I doubled the marmite this week, used 20g of fresh yeast and left out the salt. Rose perfectly, everyone loved it.

  5. I baked this today with the 100g of wholemeal flour option. Added approx 20g extra flour to get the right stickyness, Hand kneaded for 10 mins after about 20-30 mins rest. 4 hours prove under cling film at ambient temp of about 18-20 see Deg c. 30 mins bake at 220 was perfect. Temp probe maxed at 94 Deg c. Best loaf I’ve ever done. I searched for the recipe after being served a mini loaf at a fine dining restaurant which came with garlic butter. Incredible combination!

  6. Sounds great! I tried an American recipe that wanted 30g sugar for 450g flour. Horribly sweet. Yours has no sugar though, which surprises me. I’m guessing that there’s things I don’t understand about yeast? Thanks!

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