Bread, Etc
2 loavesIngredients
Directions
Prepare and rise
Dissolve the baking soda in warm water.
Mix the dissolved soda with the flour to form a dough.
Let the dough rise in the pans for about 30 minutes.
Bake and cool
Bake in a brick oven for 1 hour.
Check if the bread is done by pressing a piece; it should rise back.
Wrap the bread in a cloth until completely cool.
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
- Flour
- Forms the dough's structure as its proteins bond into an elastic network.
- Baking soda
- Releases gas when dissolved in the dough, helping it rise.
- Scalded cornmeal
- Scalding softens the cornmeal and lets it hold moisture, keeping the bread tender.
The step that matters
Checking doneness by pressing the bread. As the loaf bakes, its crumb sets and springs back when pressed. An underbaked loaf stays wet and gummy inside and can collapse as it cools.
“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.
More cornbread recipes
You might also like
Bread Pudding336 recipes
Milk Bread Rolls242 recipes
Potato Bread124 recipes
Nut Bread109 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.