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Old Salem Baking” —  Whether you love to bake or eat baked goods, Old Salem has plenty of tasty treats for your liking.  This morning, we learned about the Miksch House and the Garden Bake Oven.  We even heard how you can make baked goods, just like they did in the old days.  Here are the recipes for you:

Ordinary Bread (1 Loaf)

Stir ½ teaspoon salt into 3 cups unbleached flour. Add about ½ cup barm diluted to 1 cup with blood-warm water (or ¼ ounce yeast in 1 cup blood-warm water). Mix well, shape into a ball (add more flour if too damp). Cover and leave to rise until doubled (about 2 hours). Knock the dough down and knead thoroughly. Form dough into ball and allow to rise again until doubled (about ¾ hour). Bake about 40 minutes in hot oven.
[Make “the loaves broad, and not so thick and high as is frequently done, by which the bread will be better baked.” Unbleached flour is probably the best approximation of the fine flour called for in period receipts.]

Gingerbread Cakes
(Adaptation)

2 ½ cups flour
½ cup sugar
¼ pound butter
1 tablespoon ginger
½ teaspoon nutmet
¾ cup molasses
2 tablespoons cream
Add more molasses if needed. Roll thin and cut. Bake 8-10 minutes in medium oven.

The Art of Cookery Made Plain & Easy
Hannah Glasse, 1747 & 1796

These adaptations are from Backcountry Housewife by Kay Moss & Kathryn Hoffman. Copyright 1985 & 1994, Schiele Museum, Gastonia, NC.