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Graham Bread (II)
Mrs. H. P. Stowell.
Set sponge of fine flour, same as for wheat bread; when sufficiently raised, instead of mixing with fine flour, mix with Graham to the usual consistency; mould with fine flour a little, raise once, then it is ready for the oven. Sweeten with syrup or sugar, if desired, though I think it better without either..
A sponge-method loaf with no quantities at all, typical of a contributed community recipe where the writer assumed everyone already made white bread weekly. The hinge is that the graham flour goes in only at the second stage, after the white sponge is already lively.
- What a sponge is hereA slack batter of white flour, water or milk, and yeast, left to ferment until bubbly and domed — anywhere from two hours to overnight. Proportions varied; a third to a half of the eventual flour is a common starting point, with enough liquid to make it the consistency of thick pancake batter.
- Graham flourCoarse whole-wheat flour with the bran and germ left in, named for Sylvester Graham. Modern stone-ground whole wheat is the nearest thing; standard supermarket whole wheat is finer-milled and may behave a little differently in absorption, so judge the dough by feel.
- Why graham comes in secondBran fragments cut developing gluten strands. Building strength in a white sponge first, then working in the graham, tends to give a taller loaf than mixing everything at once.
- "To the usual consistency"A soft, slightly tacky dough that just clears the bowl. Whole-wheat dough stiffens as the bran hydrates, so err wetter than feels right and let it rest ten minutes before judging.
- SaltNone is listed. Without it the loaf is flat-tasting and ferments too fast; figure roughly 2 teaspoons of salt per pound of flour.
- "Raise once" after shapingThat is the final proof in the pan, not another bulk rise. Whole-wheat dough over-proofs quickly — give it until the dough springs back slowly when pressed, usually 45 to 60 minutes at room temperature.
- OvenThe original gives no oven guidance at all. For a modern oven, bake at 400F for the first 15 minutes, then 375F until the loaf sounds hollow and reads 195-200F inside, about 35-45 minutes total for a standard loaf pan.
- YieldThe recipe gives no quantities. As a working guess, about 3 lb of combined flour will fill two 9-inch pans; otherwise scale the sponge to whatever quantity you normally make of white bread.
- Syrup or sugarMolasses was a common sweetener in graham bread and gives the dark, faintly bitter loaf many people expect. Mrs. Stowell prefers it plain; a tablespoon or two of molasses per loaf is a middle ground.
Graham bread takes its name from Sylvester Graham, the Presbyterian preacher and dietary reformer of the 1830s who campaigned against fine white flour and commercial bakers' bread, arguing that unbolted home-ground wheat and plain living were the foundation of health. By the time community cookbooks like this one were compiled, the crusading edge had worn off and graham flour was simply a pantry staple, sold by grocers and used for bread, gems and crackers. What survives of the original doctrine is visible in the last line: Mrs. Stowell thinks the loaf better without sweetening, an echo of the reform position that bread should taste of grain and nothing else. The sponge-and-dough method she uses was the standard home procedure of the period, when yeast was less reliable and a long preliminary ferment was the surest way to know the leavening was alive before committing the whole batch of flour to it.