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Bread

Baking Powder Bread

A quick bread made with flour, baking powder, salt, and cold water, baked into small loaves.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
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Baking Powder Bread

Oven, in the book's wordsA very hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

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

Prepare the dough

  1. In a basin, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt.

  2. Quickly add cold water, mixing with a wooden spoon until a moist dough forms.

  3. Beat the dough well until smooth.

Shape and bake

  1. Divide the dough into 6 pieces and knead them quickly into small loaves.

  2. Bake on floured baking sheets for 10 to 15 minutes, or in tins for 30 minutes at 400°F (200°C).

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

Flour
Forms the main structure of the dough as its proteins and starches set during baking.
Baking powder
Releases carbon dioxide gas when moistened and heated, lifting the loaves so they rise.
Cold water
Hydrates the flour to form a moist dough that holds together and bakes into a soft crumb.

The step that matters

Working quickly after adding the water. Baking powder starts releasing gas as soon as it meets liquid, so the dough should be mixed, shaped and put in the oven promptly to keep that lift for the bake.

“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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