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Rich Sultana Bonnag

Rich Sultana Bonnag is a traditional Manx recipe (from the Isle of Man) for a classic rich sodabread with eggs and sultanas that's a tea-time treat. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Manx version of: Rich Sultana Bonnag.

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

70 minutes

Total Time:

90 minutes

Makes:

4 loaves

Rating:

Tags : Vegetarian RecipesMilk RecipesBaking RecipesCake RecipesBritish RecipesManx Recipes

The addition of eggs to this recipe makes it more like a bunloaf than a true bonnag; it's delicious nonetheless. The only leavening here is the creamed sugar and butter. So you could argue that this is true to the original bonnags, which did not have leavening agents. Now, the buttermilk often acts as a yeast starter, but that's irrelevant here and the yeast has not time to act.

Bonnag is a traditional Manx bread which, it is believed, has been around for hundreds of years. It is traditionally served with butter or some people like it dry, we like to give our guests the opportunity to try it many different ways. We also offer our guests fresh homemade marmalade, jam and a popular one Manx honey.

Bonnag and Scottish Bannock share an etymology and are similar in preparation. However, it does seem that the original spelling of bonnag was 'sonnag' and it was only after the introduction of modern baking soda did the bonnag spelling enter the vernacular. The Isle of Man's original grains would have been barley and oats not wheat.

The original Bonnag was a barley cake, about the size of a breakfast plate, cooked on a griddle. This was prevalent until the 1860s when chemical leavening (originally bicarbonate of soda with buttermilk and then double action baking soda) became popular and the traditional bonnags were replaced by the more cake-like forms of today, though barley was probably stillt the main grain.

Dried fruit also became prevalent in the mid 19th century and by the 1890s bonnag had become fruited breads leavened with soda with wheat flour becoming more common than barley. Indeed, the increased gluten in wheat flour is needed for a bonnag to rise properly. Though to be fair, imported wheat did not fully replace barley as the island's staple grain until the 1910s.

Manx slim cakes hearken back to the original method of making bonnag as a flat griddle cake.
Makes 4 loaf tins

Ingredients:

1.35 kg Bread Flour, sifted
300g Caster Sugar
660g Sultanas
330g Butter
850ml (1 1/2 Pints) Buttermilk
6 Eggs

Method:

Cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating into the creamed mixture thoroughly to combine after each addition.

Sift over the flour and fold in to incorporate. Fold in the sultanas then stir in the buttermilk to form a batter.

Divide the batter between four greased loaf tins then transfer to an oven pre-heated to 180°C and bake for about 70 minutes.

Allow to cool in the tins for 10 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to fool further.

These are best eaten warm, sliced and spread with plenty of butter.