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Rolled Bread
Cut fresh bread, while still warm, in as thin slices as pos sible, using a very sharp knife. Spread evenly with butter which has been creamed. Roll slices separately, and tie each with baby ribbon.
A garnish-piece rather than a sandwich: warm bread, softened butter, and a ribbon. The whole thing hinges on the bread being newly baked, since only warm crumb will bend without cracking.
- The bread must be genuinely freshOlder bread tends to crack along the roll, and the thinner the slice the better the odds. Use a loaf still warm from the oven, or warm a fresh loaf briefly and slice it while the crumb is pliable. A close-grained white loaf is easier to roll than an open, holey crumb.
- Slicing thinThe recipe asks only for slices as thin as possible, cut with a very sharp knife drawn through without pressing down. (The recipe says nothing about trimming crusts; if you do trim, doing it after buttering helps the slice keep its shape.)
- "Butter which has been creamed"This means butter beaten soft and smooth, not melted. Leave it at room temperature and work it with a spoon or paddle until it spreads like thick cream; melted butter soaks into warm bread and the roll will not hold.
- RollingRoll from a short edge, fairly tight, and set the rolls seam side down. Covering them with a damp cloth or plastic wrap for fifteen minutes lets them set in shape.
- The baby ribbon"Baby ribbon" meant a very narrow ribbon, on the order of an eighth to a quarter inch. Modern ribbon is often synthetic and dyed with materials not intended for food contact, so choose plain undyed cotton tape, or skip the tie and hold the rolls with the seam underneath.
- Variations the book assumes you knowVariations -- The same method will take anchovy, watercress, or chopped nuts. Anything wet or bulky will burst the roll.
- Yield and timingTiming -- They are best within a couple of hours; refrigerate under a damp cloth if you must hold them longer, as they dry and stiffen quickly.
Rolled bread belongs to the elaborate afternoon-tea repertoire — bread simply buttered and tied like a small parcel. The point was never nourishment but appearance. The instruction to work with warm bread is the practical heart of it: bread already cooled will not roll.