Nut Bread (Egg slightly beaten C sugar C)

A plain baking-powder loaf of the sort that filled church cookbooks between the wars: no butter, no eggs to speak of, and a long slow rise-free rest in the pan. A few notes will keep it from baking dry or sinking.

• The rest is not optionalTwenty minutes in the greased pan lets the flour hydrate and the baking powder begin working. The recipe calls for it explicitly, so allow the time.
• "Fairly hot oven"Period usage puts this somewhere in the 375-400F range; for a large loaf baking a full hour, 350-375F is the safer reading, since a hotter oven will set the crust before the centre cooks.
• Timing and donenessAn hour to an hour and ten minutes in a standard 9x5 loaf pan. Go by a skewer in the centre coming out clean rather than by the clock.
• Sweet milkSimply fresh milk, specified to distinguish it from the soured milk or buttermilk that older recipes used with soda. Whole milk suits a batter with no butter in it.
• C and tC is a cup, t a teaspoon. Four teaspoons of baking powder to four cups of flour is one teaspoon per cup, the usual proportion.
• The nutsWalnuts or hickory nuts are the likely candidates. Toast them briefly and toss with a spoonful of the measured flour so they do not sink.
• Cooling and slicingThis bread is crumbly warm and cuts cleanly cold. Wrap the cooled loaf and leave it overnight before slicing.
• YieldOne large loaf, about 12 to 16 slices. The batter divides well between two smaller pans, in which case start checking at 40 minutes.