July 10, 2010 - 10:22am
New England Brown Bread (canned bread)
his is a bread that I've seen in every grocery mart I've ever shopped at and although I find the store bought variety somewhat awful I've always been drawn to it. For some reason or another I decided one day that I just HAD to make it. It was after all one of my grandmothers absolute favorites, and although I've never met her I always feel like I do when I make these sorts of traditional New England foods. Its actually steamed in a tin as strange as it sounds its definitely a new england tradition that I adore.
External Link to Blog Post and Recipe: http://neo-homesteading.blogspot.com/2010/04/new-england-brown-bread-canned-bread.html
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I used a Yam can. Only use them once and then throw them away. Traditionally new englanders have used coffee tins I specifically remember them being blue maxwell house I believe? And instead of using my foil and rubber band method they used duct tape around the outside of the can to seal it. I dont drink coffee from a tin so I didn't have any around and honestly I don't recall seeing an actual tin coffee bucket lately i'm pretty sure they're mostly plastic now.
I've read numerous accounts of people attempting to make them in mason jars and almost every time I've seen that they crack. The traditional steamed brown bread is steamed for 2 hours and I'm not sure if its the jars clanking into one another or the temperature etc but I have not tried it. I might attempt it next time in a 16 ounce wide mouth jar. The larger sized jars that would be the right size for this I can not find in wide mouth.
If you've got oven proof coffee mugs or souffle dishes you can make mini ones, go ahead and use the parchment and foil around top of them with rubber bands. Anything thats round that allows them to be sealed properly.
What is the consistency of the dough when you mix everything together? My seems a little on the dry side. Should I really be able to pour it into the can?
Thanks,
Nick
The batter is thick as it is supposed to be a somewhat dense bread, and its steamed. If you were to put a very wet batter into a can and steam it for 2 hours it would be extremely wet.
It is not "pourable" like a glass of water but it is slightly thicker than a standard quick bread batter.
Thank you Neo-Homesteading and lowecc!
I guess I will add more buttermilk to it until it is the consistency you guys describe.
Thanks again,
Nick
This bread came out great! I didn't wind up needing any extra buttermilk.
I really enjoy the taste of the molasses but my fiancé...not so much. I am going to try it with honey instead next time.
I steamed it in my crock pot! So easy and fun to make. I like it with a smear of some plain cream cheese on it.
Thanks everyone for your support!
Nick