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Raisin and Nut Oat Loaf
1 pint scalded milk 1 cup rolled oats 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup molasses or sugar 1 yeast cake 1/2 cup lukewarm water 2 cups whole wheat flour 1 cup raisins 1 cup chopped nut meats Pour the scalded milk over the oats and cook slowly to a mush, adding salt, molasses or sugar. When lukewarm add the yeast, which has been softened in the water, add flour, chopped raisins and nut meats. Knead carefully on a well floured board until it loses its stickiness. Form into two loaves, place in well greased pans and let stand until very light. Brush over with milk or egg and bake in a moderately hot oven.
A soft, sweet yeast loaf built on an oatmeal porridge base. The one thing that governs success is temperature: the cooked oat mush must be genuinely lukewarm before the yeast goes in.
- Cool the mush properlyScalded milk poured over oats and simmered to a porridge will hold heat for a long while in the pan. Let it fall to about 100-110F before adding the softened yeast; much hotter than that and the yeast may be killed, and the loaves will not lighten.
- Yeast cakeOne cake of compressed yeast is replaced by one 1/4-oz packet, about 2 1/4 teaspoons, of active dry yeast. Soften it in the half cup of lukewarm water as written.
- A pint of milkTwo cups. Scalding is usually explained as killing bacteria and deactivating enzymes in raw milk; with pasteurized milk it chiefly serves to cook the oats, so bring it just to a shiver at the edges.
- Flour is a starting pointTwo cups of whole wheat flour against two cups of milk and a cup of oats gives a very slack dough. Expect to work in appreciably more flour on the board -- the recipe's own test, kneading "until it loses its stickiness," is the real measure.
- Oven temperature"Moderately hot" in books of this period means 375-400F. Bake 40-50 minutes; the molasses and raisins brown quickly, so tent with foil if the crust darkens before the center is set. An internal temperature near 195F is done.
- Rising timesThe recipe calls for a single rise, in the pans: 'let stand until very light.' Whole wheat flour carrying a cup of raisins and a cup of nuts rises slowly; judge by volume rather than the clock.
- Pans and yieldThe quantity suits two 8x4-inch pans rather than full-size 9x5 loaves. Each loaf gives roughly a dozen slices.
- The washMilk gives a soft matte crust, beaten egg a glossy one. Brush lightly -- pooled egg on a fruit loaf scorches.