Dissolve a half teaspoonful of soda in a cupful of lukewarm water. Put a tablespoonful of butter into a tablespoonful and a half of molasses, and let them warm until the butter is melted. Add to it the dissolved soda and water, and a half teaspoonful of salt. Stir this mixture into a cupful of light white bread sponge, and add enough Graham flour to make a stiff batter, or very thin dough. Turn into a greased pan. Let it rise until even with the top of the pan, and bake in a moderate oven an hour or an hour and a quarter. Use a spoon, and not the hands, for mixing Graham flour. A little white flour may be mixed with the Graham flour if a lighter colored and dryer bread is preferred.
GLUTEN BREAD
Pour a pint of boiling water into a pint of milk; add a teaspoonful of butter and a teaspoonful of salt. Let it stand until it is lukewarm; then add a well-beaten egg, a quarter of a yeast-cake dissolved, and enough gluten to make a soft batter. Cover and stand in a warm place to rise; then add enough gluten to make a soft dough, and knead it well. Form it into four loaves, and let rise again. Bake for one hour.
Gluten bread requires less yeast and less time to rise than ordinary bread.
BOSTON BROWN BREAD
- 2 cupfuls of white cornmeal.
- 2 cupfuls of yellow cornmeal.
- 2 cupfuls of Graham flour or of rye meal or of white flour.
- 1 cupful of molasses.
- 2 cupfuls of milk (one of them being sour milk, if convenient).
- 2 cupfuls of boiling water.
- 1 teaspoonful of salt.
- 1 teaspoonful of soda.
Mix well the flour, meal, and salt; add to them the boiling water. Mix the sweet milk and molasses together, and add them to the scalded meal. Dissolve the soda in the sour milk, and add it last. Turn the mixture into a covered cylindrical mold or into a covered pail, and steam it for three hours; then uncover and bake in the oven for half an hour. Slices of this bread toasted, buttered, and covered with cream make a good breakfast or luncheon dish.
TOAST
Cut the bread in even slices one quarter of an inch thick. Cut off the crust and trim the pieces into even and uniform shape. There is no waste in this, as the scraps of bread can be dried and crumbed. If the bread is fresh, let it dry a few minutes in the oven. Place it on a wire toaster, and turn often until well dried through; then hold it over the coals a minute to take an even golden color. Toast requires careful watching, or it will burn or be unevenly colored. Toast should not be served until the moment it is required. A few pieces only should be served at a time, and the plate should be hot. If wrapped in a napkin, or piled up, it quickly becomes damp and loses its crispness. If a soft toast is wanted, color the bread at once without drying it; the center will then be only heated. Toast used under game or meats is made dry, buttered, and sprinkled with salt; then softened with a little boiling water.