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Graham Bread
This is made the same as white bread. Set the sponge in the same way and treat in the morning by working into a cupful of salted whole-wheat flour 3 cupfuls of Graham flour and 3 tablespoonfuls of molasses. Knead hard and long, and set it to rise. As soon as it is light make into loaves and then let it set another hour. Bake in even oven. The best result in baking is obtained by covering with thick paper for the first half hour they are in the oven. Then take off paper and let loaves brown. When made with a potato sponge it will keep fresh longer than otherwise.
A late-Victorian sponge-method loaf that assumes you have already read the white bread recipe earlier in the chapter. The hinge is the paper cover: Graham flour and molasses both brown fast, and without a shield the crust sets and darkens long before the middle is done.
- The sponge"Set the sponge" means mixing yeast, liquid and part of the flour into a loose batter the night before and leaving it to ferment until bubbly and slack. The proportions are not given here; they come from the white bread recipe earlier in the chapter, which the cook is assumed to have to hand. Expect an overnight ferment of 8-12 hours at cool room temperature.
- Graham flourCoarsely ground whole wheat, bran and germ included, named for Sylvester Graham. Stone-ground whole wheat flour is the closest current equivalent; standard fine whole wheat works but gives a smoother crumb than intended.
- MolassesUse unsulphured cane molasses, not blackstrap, which is far more bitter than the period product and will dominate the loaf. Three tablespoons is a flavour and colour addition, not a sweetener, and it accelerates crust browning.
- "Even oven"A steady heat held level rather than the falling heat of a cooling wood-fired oven. A moderate modern setting, somewhere around 350-375F, suits the loaf; whole-grain doughs with molasses in them colour quickly, which is the reason for the paper.
- The paperCover the loaves loosely for the first 30 minutes as directed, then uncover and let them colour for the remainder of the bake. Parchment or a tented sheet of foil does the job the original thick paper did.
- Judging donenessRather than knocking on the bottom, take the internal temperature: 195-200F at the centre. Graham loaves feel firm on the outside well before the crumb is set.
- Potato spongeSubstituting potato cooking water, or mashed potato, for part of the liquid in the sponge. The starch holds moisture, which is why the book says the bread stays fresh longer; it is a genuine effect, not folklore.
- YieldNot stated; the recipe says only "make into loaves." The total depends on the size of the sponge carried over from the white bread recipe. The second rise after shaping is the hour the text specifies, or until a pressed fingertip leaves a dent that fills back slowly.