Brown Bread
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Scald the Indian meal with boiling water and let it cool.
Make a sponge with half of the Graham meal, new yeast, and warm water.
When the sponge is light, mix it with the cooled Indian meal, remaining Graham meal, and molasses.
Rise and bake
Place the mixture in a pan and let it rise, but do not let it sour.
Bake for 3 to 4 hours.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Indian meal
- Provides the bulk and coarse structure of the loaf once scalded and cooled.
- Graham meal
- Adds a nutty, wholesome body and helps give the loaf its structure.
- New yeast
- Produces gas in the sponge so the dough rises and becomes light.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness and a deep brown color to the crumb and crust.
The step that matters
Letting the mixture rise without souring. Yeast fermentation produces gas for lift, but over-long rising lets acid-producing bacteria take over, giving a sour flavor and weakening the rise before baking.
“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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