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Brown Bread (Spoonful lard spoonful sugar)
1 spoonful lard 1 spoonful sugar knead in flour
— Mrs. G. B. Bellis
Two cups rye flour, 1 cup corn flour, 1 cup molasses, 1 tsp. soda, 1 pint of hot water, pinch of salt, 1/2 cup of raisins. Steam 2 hours. MRS. ALBERT H. TAYLOR.
Two recipes have run together in the printing: the first line is the tail end of Mrs. Bellis's contribution, and the actual brown bread begins at "Two cups rye flour." Work only from Mrs. Taylor's list.
- Ignore the first line"1 spoonful lard 1 spoonful sugar knead in flour" belongs to the recipe above it and has no place here. Steamed brown bread contains no fat and is a batter, not a kneaded dough.
- Corn flour means cornmealCorn flour means ground corn -- in American books of this period 'corn flour' generally means corn ground fine, not cornstarch (which the British call corn flour) and not masa. Fine or medium yellow cornmeal is the nearest substitute.
- Soda and molassesThe teaspoon of soda is leavened by the acidity of the molasses; there is no other acid, so do not substitute honey or syrup. Use unsulphured molasses rather than blackstrap, which is harsh in this quantity.
- MixingWhisk the dry ingredients, stir in the molasses and the pint of hot water, and mix only until combined. The batter should be pourable, close to a thick pancake batter. Add the raisins last.
- The vesselThe batter runs to roughly five or six cups, so allow about two quarts of mold capacity in total: one large pudding mold or two or three greased cans, each filled about two-thirds full and covered with foil or a lid tied on, since the bread rises considerably and needs headroom.
- How to steamStand the mold on a rack in a deep pot, add boiling water to come halfway up the sides, cover, and keep the water at a bare simmer for the full two hours. Check the level once an hour and top up with boiling water.
- Doneness and turning outA skewer should come out clean and the loaf should feel springy. Let it stand ten minutes, then turn out; a damp, soft crust is normal in a steamed loaf, and the bread firms as it cools.
- YieldRoughly a quart and a half of batter, enough for one large loaf or two small ones. It cuts best with a serrated knife or a length of thread, and is traditionally served with baked beans.
Steamed brown bread of rye, cornmeal and molasses is the New England descendant of "rye and Injun" -- the mixed loaf colonists baked when wheat was scarce and corn was abundant. Steaming rather than baking suited households without a reliable oven and gave a moist, dense crumb that keeps for days; emptied tin cans were used as molds alongside proper pudding molds, which is one reason many such loaves are round. Philathea classes were adult Bible-study classes for women, and their fundraising cook books were made by collecting members' recipes; the appearance of the dish here suggests it had spread beyond New England as a cheap, reliable companion to baked beans. Each contribution is signed, and the collision of Mrs. Bellis's stray line with Mrs. Taylor's brown bread is the sort of typesetting accident common in locally printed church fundraisers.