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Dessert

Italian Bread

A buttered cornmeal bread made from dough, sliced into strips and baked.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Italian Bread

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Shape the dough

  1. Work the butter into the dough.

  2. Roll out the dough to about ½ inch thick.

  3. Cut into strips nearly 1 inch wide and 7 to 8 inches long.

Top and bake

  1. Sift fine cornmeal over the strips.

  2. Place them apart on a buttered pan.

  3. When light, bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Butter
Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and helps the surface brown.
Dough
Forms the base structure that sets into the bread as it bakes.
Cornmeal
Gives a coarse, slightly crisp coating and a golden color on the surface.

The step that matters

When light, bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven.. Baking should start once the dough has become light, meaning it has gained air and some lift. Baking too early yields a dense loaf, while waiting too long can let the dough lose its rise before the oven sets its structure.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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