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Entire Wheat Bread
1 1/4 cupfuls boiling water 2 tablespoonfuls Crisco 1 1/4 cupfuls milk 2 teaspoonfuls salt 2 tablespoonfuls sugar 1 yeast cake 1/4 cupful tepid water Whole wheat flour Mix boiling water, milk, sugar, salt, and Crisco together. Add yeast cake dissolved in tepid water, with 3 1/2 cupfuls whole wheat flour. Mix and let stand until light. Add more flour until soft dough is formed, then knead and divide into two loaves. Place in Criscoed tins and let stand until the dough doubles its bulk. Brush over with milk and bake in moderate oven one and a half hours.
Sufficient for two small loaves.
A straightforward sponge-and-dough loaf from a Crisco promotional book. The one thing to fix is the bake time, which will scorch and dry two small loaves.
- Bake time and temperatureA "moderate oven" in books of this period is usually taken as about 350-375F. Ninety minutes is far too long for two small loaves; expect 35 to 45 minutes. The loaves are done at an internal temperature of 190-200F and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.
- The yeast cakeYeast cakes of the period were compressed fresh yeast, commonly around 0.6 oz though sizes varied by maker. Substitute one packet (2 1/4 teaspoons) of active dry yeast, or 2 teaspoons instant yeast added straight to the flour.
- Liquid temperatureCombine the boiling water and the milk, check that the mixture is lukewarm rather than hot, and only then add the dissolved yeast.
- CriscoAny solid vegetable shortening works, as does butter or a neutral oil in the same volume. "Criscoed tins" simply means greased pans.
- Entire wheat flourEntire wheat is whole wheat, milled with the bran and germ. The 3 1/2 cupfuls form a slack sponge; total flour usually runs to about 5 1/2 to 6 cups, but whole wheat absorbs unpredictably, so add by feel and keep the dough soft.
- "Let stand until light"This is the sponge stage. Give it 45 minutes to an hour in a warm room, until visibly puffed and bubbling, before working in the rest of the flour.
- Kneading whole wheatBran cuts gluten strands, so this dough needs a longer knead than a white loaf and will never feel as elastic. Ten minutes by hand is reasonable; resist adding flour to stop the tackiness.
- Milk washBrushing with milk gives a soft, deep-brown crust. Apply it just before the loaves go into the oven, as the recipe directs.
- YieldTwo small loaves, suited to 8 x 4 inch pans rather than the standard 9 x 5.
A Calendar of Dinners belongs to the wave of cookbooks published by Procter & Gamble to promote Crisco after its introduction in 1911, which is why shortening turns up in a bread that has no traditional need of it. "Entire wheat" was a common American term of the period for flour milled from the whole berry, and was often distinguished from "graham" flour, which was coarser and more loosely bolted, though the two names were also used interchangeably. Whole-meal breads carried a faintly medicinal reputation in this era, inherited from Sylvester Graham's campaigning of the 1830s and 1840s and reinforced by turn-of-the-century domestic scientists who praised bran for digestion.