Bread Recipes
published by Molly Girl 822 on Feb 29, 2012
In 1866, ladies sent their favorite recipes to the newspaper. My great great grandmother cut out recipes she liked and pasted them over her college teaching notes. The recipes that follow are copied exactly as printed in 1866.
Therefore, an explanation of common baking terms in the 19th century may be of help.
sweet milk- fresh milk
steaming bread-bread dough is put in a greased pail and set in a kettle of boiling water. Cover the whole kettle to prevent steam from escaping. Keep water to a simmer throughout the steaming process.
sour milk- add one teaspoon vinegar or lemon juice to one cup of milk.
scalded milk- bring milk nearly to a boil 185°F stirring continuously
slow oven- 250-300 degrees F.
“Brown Bread- Three cups of cold water, one cup of molasses, one heaping teaspoonful of soda, one tablespoonful of salt, three cups of corn meal first, then three cups of flour. Steam three hours then bake about one hour in a slow oven. Of course if you have it, milk can be used instead of water.” Mrs. C. B.
“Brown Bread- Twelve cups of entire wheat flour, two quarts of water, one cup of molasses, one tablespoonful each of salt and lard, and one yeast cake.” F. B. B.
“Brown Bread- One cup each of Indian meal, graham meal, and rye meal, and one-fourth teaspoonful of salt; mix all together, put one teacup of sour milk into a bowl and stir in one teaspoonful of soda; when it foams turn into the dry meal, then add one cup of sweet milk, beat thoroughly, and lastly add one-third teacup of molasses. Steam five hours.” N., Medilia Minnesota
“Steamed Corn Bread- One cup of molasses, two cups each of sour milk, corn meal, and flour, one tablespoonful of salt, two teaspoonfuls of soda, steam two hours. Bake for one-half hour or until golden brown on top.” Flossie
“Entire Wheat Bread- One quart of wheat, one plus of flour, two tablespoonfuls of molasses, one tablespoonful of sugar, one teaspoonful of salt, and one-half cake of yeast; mix soft. The same mixture can be baked in gem pans for breakfast, or made into biscuits.” M. A. Y.
“Bread- Annie L., This is the way I make up bread and we call it nice. For one loaf, take a pint of sweet milk, scald, (the bread keeps moist longer when scalded milk is used) let it cool till milk warm, then add one heaping teaspoon of white sugar, one teaspoonful of salt, a piece of butter the size of a walnut, and one-third cup of good yeast. Now let me say here, that the cream which will rise on a quart of milk greatly improves it. About a quart of flour, the quantity of flour can not be exactly given as some flour has to be mixed very hard, others soft. In the morning knead, let rise, and bake in a slow oven. When I take it out of the oven I wet a cloth in water, lay over the bread, and part of an old tablespread I keep for the purpose, over this, to steam the crust, this makes it nice and tender.” Mrs. J.
“Number Two- One-half cup of molasses, one cup of sour milk, one and one-half cups of sweet milk or water, two cups of cornmeal, one cup of flour, one teaspoonful of salt, and one-half teaspoonful of soda. Steam three hours.” Mrs. C.D. Bennett
