A form of sweet bread cake containing pineapple, cherries, dates and walnuts. Known only from a receipt book published by the Derbyshire Federation of Women's Institutes in 1974 and claimed to be associated with the Roman fort known as 'Melandra' near Glossop. Yeast-raised fruit bread and dried dates are known to be associated with Roman legions, but the Pineapple, a South American fruit, was not known in Europe until the 1660's.

Original Receipt from http://www.peakdistrictonline.co.uk

Melandra Loaf

The recipe is dedicated to the Roman Fort at Glossop

600g (1 ¼ lbs) plain flour
25g (1/2 oz) fresh yeast
½ tsp sugar
50g (2oz) lard
½ tsp salt
210ml (7fl oz) milk
50g (2oz) currants
100g (4oz) tinned pineapple - drained
100g (4oz) glace cherries
100g (4oz) dates
100g (4oz) walnuts

Make a dough using the flour, yeast, lard, sugar and milk. Leave for 5 minutes to rest. Turn out onto a floured board and knead well. Add the fruit and nuts. Leave again for 15minutes to rise. Place the mixture into a well greased 2lb loaf tin and stand for 1 ½ hours in a warm place. Brush with apricot glaze and then bake at 400 degrees F/200 degrees C at the top of the oven for 1-1/4 hours, lowering the heat for the last ¼ hour. Coat with orange icing when cold.

This recipe can be adapted to use dried yeast and a bread-making machine if preferred