One of the chief difficulties experienced by those trying to compass a
complete scheme of hygienic dietary, is to get a pure, wholesome, easily
digested, and, at the same time, palatable bread. We have long since
exploded the idea that _whiteness_ is a test of superiority, for we
know that this is attained by excluding the most wholesome and nutritious
part of the wheat and by the use of chemicals. Even when we use brown
bread, we are by no means sure of having a wholemeal loaf, for it is as
often as not merely the ordinary flour with some bran mixed in. And bran is
only one part--by no means the most important--of that in which the meal is
lacking. We want to get as much as possible of the real "_germ_," the
essential part of the grain, but I am informed by experts, that the process
of drying and preparing this germ meal is so much more troublesome, and, in
consequence, expensive, that the easier and cheaper method is that generally
adopted. But, if we want a really good thing we must be willing to pay for
it, and by creating a demand for the superior article make it worth while to
manufacture it, and it were poor economy to save on the bread bill at the
expense of health. It is well to know exactly what constitutes a really
wholesome bread, for bakers and purveyors everywhere are ready to meet their
customers' wishes. But if people are ignorant or unreasonable enough to
demand a light-coloured, puffy loaf, when a pure whole-wheat loaf is rather
dark and solid looking, they must be prepared to find that they are served
with what pleases their taste, and to take the risks. Some may like to try
baking their bread at home, and it may interest them to know that it is
possible to make very good wheaten bread without any raising ingredients
whatever, simply with wheatmeal and water, aerating it by beating air into
it. This is best managed by the home baker in the form of
Wheatmeal Gems.
There are sets of thick iron gem pans to be had, which are very good for
this purpose, but one can manage quite well with oven-plates made of
sheet-iron or black steel.
Into a large basin put 2 cupfuls of the coldest water procurable. Aerate by
pouring from one vessel to another several times, or by whipping up with a
spoon or spatula. Take 4 cupfuls whole meal, and pass several times through
a sieve. Sprinkle the meal into the water a little at a time, whipping
vigorously all the while till about three-fourths are worked in, and
continue whisking from 20 to 30 minutes till the mixture is full of air
bubbles. Sprinkle in the rest of the wheatmeal and mix thoroughly.
Meanwhile, see that the oven is very hot, as a strong steady heat is
necessary. Make the gem pans or oven-plates also very hot and grease
lightly. Half fill the pans and put at once in oven, so that the moist air
may be as quickly as possible converted into steam, and thus puff up the
bread. If oven-plates are used, put dessertspoonfuls some distance apart on
these and put in oven. If the oven is hot enough, a crust will at once
form, and the steam trying to force its way out will send them up like puff
balls. Moderate the heat, if possible after 10 or 15 minutes, and allow to
bake for about 30 minutes longer. It is very easy to regulate the heat if a
gas stove is used; if a range, put on some small coal. When baked turn out
on a sieve, and when quite cold split open and toast on the inside.
Another excellent kind of bread, which can be managed quite easily with a
little trouble and practice, is raised with eggs. It is generally known as
Wallace Egg Bread,
and as I have the recipe direct from Mrs C. Leigh Hunt Wallace, the inventor
of this kind of bread, I am able to pass it on at first hand.
Ten ounces wheatmeal, 1 large egg (weighing 2 ozs.), 1 gill milk and 1 gill
water, the whole to be made into a batter, the white of egg being beaten
separately to a stiff froth and incorporated with the batter very thoroughly
but very quickly; the whole to be baked in 1 lb. cake or loaf tin, the tin
being very hot and thoroughly oiled or buttered before the batter is turned
into it. Put for 50 minutes in a very hot part of the oven (350 degrees to
380 degrees fahr.) and keep in another 50 minutes to soak. I can vouch for
the excellence of this bread, and may say that I have managed it with very
little difficulty. I use a gas oven and loaf pans made of black steel, as
these take and retain the heat much better than tins. If any amateur,
however, is doubtful as to how this loaf should be, she cannot do better
than send for a sample loaf or two to the Wallace Bakery, 465 Battersea Park
Road, London, S.W. There is also a depot in Edinburgh--Messrs Richards &
Co., 7 Dundas Street, where these can be got. By comparing one's own
achievements with these, one will be the better able to attain the desired
result. In case any may think this egg bread sounds expensive, I may say
that it is exceedingly economical to use; a small loaf going much farther
than a large one of the ordinary puffed-up kind.