This cutting for marmite sandwiches comes from a Cholsey Board School exercise book that belonged to Kathleen Barnes, c.1932, catalogue reference: D/EX2821/2.
The cutting was found amongst notes on ‘kinds of food’ and a poem on different types of vitamins. The volume also contains notes on poisons, clothes, ventilation, first aid, teeth and more.
In the cutting, the sandwiches are described as a splendid “snack”. Two options are given, the first is ‘marmite spread very sparingly on the bread and butter’ and the second, quoted ‘better still’, is to mix the Marmite with butter with a ratio of ¼ Marmite and ¾ butter.
We appreciate Marmite can be a divider of people, and often you are either a lover or hater. One of our archivists is firmly in the lover camp so she offered to try these levelled up marmite sandwiches with ¼ Marmite and ¾ butter. Read on to find out how it went!
The Marmite Sandwich
To do the recipe justice we decided to purchase fresh bread, and it had to be real butter!
The recipe did not specify for salted or unsalted, so I just picked the butter which most appealed to me. I used 50g of butter and 12.5g of Marmite, but it was quite hard to weigh the Marmite out precisely on my analog scales and then I had the job of getting off the scales! I would recommend ‘eyeballing it’, it was around a teaspoon's worth.
Before adding the Marmite to the butter, I cut the 50g of butter into smaller cubes to make it easier to stir in the Marmite. Another useful tip before mixing the butter and the Marmite, is to leave the butter out to soften before mixing.
I stirred the butter and Marmite together with a spoon in a bowl, but it did leave lumps of butter. To smooth it out, I used my electric hand whisk. The butter should turn a golden brown colour. Warning, it could be mistaken for peanut butter so make sure to inform guests in advance if serving! Non-marmite lovers may have a shock.
Then it was time to construct!
Bread + Marmite butter = heaven (to this Marmite lover anyway!)
Finally, the taste test (the best bit)
It was a more subtle taste than marmite on top of butter but in a good way: less bitter, more creamy. It would also be very easy to add a bit more Marmite if you wanted a stronger taste.
Overall, I really enjoyed it. It was very moreish, and I even had seconds. It was nice as a sandwich, but I think it would also be nice on toast as it would warm the butter.
I was surprised Marmite had not already caught on to this as a potential product but after some research, I discovered Marmite teamed up with Marks and Spencer to create an exclusive range of Marmite products in March 2020 which included Marmite Butter. They described the butter as ‘an 100g roll of dairy butter infused with the classic taste of Marmite’.
I cannot talk about the shop version, but I would recommend giving this quick recipe a go at home, that way you make the intensity to your liking.
Recipe:
Ingredients:
Bread of your choice
Marmite (superstar ingredient)
Butter
You will also need:
Mixing bowl
Scales
Whisk (optional)
Has this tempted any Marmite lovers out there? Why not give it a go? Let us know on our social media how it goes.