My favorite cake and the easiest bread ever
Here are a couple of recipes I've mentioned recently in my posts: brown sugar cake and swope bread.
The brown sugar cake is a recipe from Tastes of Country, a cookbook by Frances A. Gillette. Almost every recipe I've tried from this cookbook has been fabulous--I highly recommend it if you can get your hands on a copy.
Quick Cake
A rich brown sugar taste. Rose Merne makes this cake often.
1/2 cup softened butter
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 2/3 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla
Put ingredients into bowl in order given and do not stir until all have been added. Beat 3 minutes. Bake in buttered pan for 35-45 minutes at 350 degrees. Nuts or raisins may be added, if desired.
I sometimes cut down on the sugar a bit, and always substitute rice milk. It's wonderful by itself or with vanilla frosting, ice cream or whipped topping.
If you like homemade bread but don't have time to wait for yeast bread to rise, try this recipe I discovered on the back of a Bob's Red Mill flour sack. If you make it with brown or turbinado sugar, it has a sweet, nutty flavor slightly akin to the flavor of Raisin Bran without the raisins (although it would be quite good with raisins added!). It's very nice toasted, with butter and honey on it.
A long-time customer of Bob's Red Mill Natural Foods shares her "so easy it's laughable" recipe with us. It makes wonderful bread for toast. She calls it:
Swope Bread
4 cups Bob's Red Mill stone ground whole wheat flour
2 cups Bob's Red Mill unbleached white flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. salt
1 quart buttermilk
4 tsp baking soda
2 bread pans, greased
Preheat oven to 375° F. In a large mixing bowl mix first 4 ingredients. In a separate bowl mix baking soda and buttermilk. Stir wet ingredients into dry. Pour into bread pans and smooth tops of loaves. Place in center of oven. Turn oven down to 350° and bake approximately 50 minutes. Turn out and cool on wire rack.
I substitute rice milk soured with a bit of lemon juice for the buttermilk. You can do the same thing with regular milk--put in about a tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar per cup of buttermilk you need and fill up the rest with milk or your milk substitute.
Be careful when you mix the baking soda with the acidic milk--it will foam up!
If you decide to try these recipes, I'd love it if you could post your experiences in a comment. I like to hear what you think of them or what variations you come up with.
The brown sugar cake is a recipe from Tastes of Country, a cookbook by Frances A. Gillette. Almost every recipe I've tried from this cookbook has been fabulous--I highly recommend it if you can get your hands on a copy.
Quick Cake
A rich brown sugar taste. Rose Merne makes this cake often.
1/2 cup softened butter
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 2/3 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla
Put ingredients into bowl in order given and do not stir until all have been added. Beat 3 minutes. Bake in buttered pan for 35-45 minutes at 350 degrees. Nuts or raisins may be added, if desired.
I sometimes cut down on the sugar a bit, and always substitute rice milk. It's wonderful by itself or with vanilla frosting, ice cream or whipped topping.
If you like homemade bread but don't have time to wait for yeast bread to rise, try this recipe I discovered on the back of a Bob's Red Mill flour sack. If you make it with brown or turbinado sugar, it has a sweet, nutty flavor slightly akin to the flavor of Raisin Bran without the raisins (although it would be quite good with raisins added!). It's very nice toasted, with butter and honey on it.
A long-time customer of Bob's Red Mill Natural Foods shares her "so easy it's laughable" recipe with us. It makes wonderful bread for toast. She calls it:
Swope Bread
4 cups Bob's Red Mill stone ground whole wheat flour
2 cups Bob's Red Mill unbleached white flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. salt
1 quart buttermilk
4 tsp baking soda
2 bread pans, greased
Preheat oven to 375° F. In a large mixing bowl mix first 4 ingredients. In a separate bowl mix baking soda and buttermilk. Stir wet ingredients into dry. Pour into bread pans and smooth tops of loaves. Place in center of oven. Turn oven down to 350° and bake approximately 50 minutes. Turn out and cool on wire rack.
I substitute rice milk soured with a bit of lemon juice for the buttermilk. You can do the same thing with regular milk--put in about a tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar per cup of buttermilk you need and fill up the rest with milk or your milk substitute.
Be careful when you mix the baking soda with the acidic milk--it will foam up!
If you decide to try these recipes, I'd love it if you could post your experiences in a comment. I like to hear what you think of them or what variations you come up with.
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Posted by purple_kangaroo at 12:26 PM[Permanent link]
3 Comments:
I tried the swope bread, but mine turns out with somewhat thick, hard to eat crust. What could I be doing wrong?
Also, although I baked this in a circular pan, would it turn out somewhat like normal bread if baked in a loaf pan? I.e., able to be cut into normal bread slices and hold up (for a sandwich)?
Hi, Anonymous. I'm guessing your problem with the swope bread was the wrong-shaped pan. In order for this bread to rise properly, it probably needs more support at the sides. Also, you might want to turn down your oven just a few degrees if that doesn't fix the problem.
My swope bread comes out a bit crispy (but not hard) on the outside, and a bit gooey on the inside.
If you wait until it cools to cut it, and then toast the slices, it is more like "regular" bread. Think of a pumpkin or banana bread . . . this is essentially the same thing but without the fruit or vegetable.
I have made sandwiches out of it. They are slightly crumbly, but they work.
I recently made Swope Bread for the first time, and it's now one of my favorite recipes! Ridiculously easy to make; very moist (because of the buttermilk) and delicious! It's also pretty healthy as it has no cholesterol (no butter, margarine, or eggs). However, when I make it, I preheat my oven to 350 degrees, and bake it for 67 minutes. Comes out perfectly! We use it for Communion bread at church.
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