THE ORIGINAL ‘RECEIPT’

Raisin Bread. – This is a good recipe for making raisin bread:  Mix one egg, one cupful of sugar, four cupfuls of flour, four teaspoonfuls of Royal Baking Powder, one cupful each of raisins and chopped nuts, one teaspoonful of salt, and one and three-quarters cupfuls of milk.  Let the mixture stand twenty minutes, and then bake one hour.  To serve, cut in thin slices and spread with butter.

~Government House Cook Book, 1915 Edition.  Ottawa, Canada: L.E. Plummer, 1914.

THE UPDATED RECIPE

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 tsp. baking powder
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon (optional)
• 1 pinch nutmeg (optional)
• 1 egg
• 1 ¾ cups milk
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 cup walnuts (chopped)
• butter (for greasing).

Grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with butter.

In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour and the baking powder.

Add the sugar, salt, and cinnamon and nutmeg (if using), and stir well to combine.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg lightly with a fork, and then add the milk.  Mix well.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and stir using a wooden spoon until all of the ingredients are mixed well and there are no lumps.

Let the mixture stand for 20 minutes. 

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Measure out the raisins, and then soak them in hot water for 10 minutes.  Drain them and pat them dry.

Once the bread batter has sat for 20 minutes, fold in the raisins and walnuts.

Pour the mixture into the greased loaf pan, and bake at 350F for one hour, or until it is nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. 

Allow to cool, and then cut in thin slices and spread with butter.

A note from Patricia: My dad was always a big fan of raisin bread, especially as his ‘midnight snack’, so I thought I’d try my hand at bread making with this straightforward raisin bread. This was another recipe that my aunt had noted “to try” but she hadn’t yet tested it, so I read up on other raisin bread recipes to determine what the oven temperature should be. From reading all of the delicious raisin bread recipes out there, I thought that adding in some cinnamon and nutmeg might make this extra delicious, which is why they have both been noted as optional ingredients. I also went with walnuts, as the original 1915 recipe didn’t specify what type of nut to use, and it seemed like the logical choice. I halved the recipe and used 1:1 gluten-free baking flour so that my raisin bread could be gluten-free, and once it cooled, I decided to make a glaze/drizzle to put on top with icing sugar, vanilla and milk because…. well why not? The verdict? Amazing. I’m definitely glad that I added the cinnamon and nutmeg, and I was pleased to find that this raisin bread was moist with a really great texture. I’m imagining all of the things that I can do with this bread – PB&J sandwiches, french toast, a grilled cheese with white cheddar, bread pudding…. so many possibilities! When you can’t eat gluten, having fresh bread that’s gluten-free is pretty rare and pretty special, so I imagine I will devour this bread fairly quickly. Regardless, whether you make this bread with GF flour or regular all-purpose, this bread will give you a ‘raisin’ to smile.

The bread for breakfast and tea should be cut in even, regular slices, not over a fourth of an inch thick, and all crumbs removed from the bread plate.

~Miss Beecher’s Domestic Receipt-Book. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1858.

Toast. – The bread at least a day old.  Cut the rounds the flat way of the loaf, about half an inch thick.  …Hot plates ready;  butter it on both sides, and slip on to a clean hot plate;   serve instantly, and send in each round on a fresh hot plate.  If the rounds are piled one on another they become swampy.

~Copley, Esther. The Housekeeper’s Guide; or A Plain and Practical System of Domestic Cookery. London: Jackson and Walford, 1834.