Boston Brown Bread

Name: Boston Brown Bread
Prep time: 85 min
Cook time: 120 min
Total time: 205 min
Yield: 10 servings
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: whole rye flour 78 g; yellow cornmeal 106 g; whole wheat flour 85 g; baking soda 0.75 tsp; salt 0.75 tsp; raisins 106 g; buttermilk 330 ml; molasses 170 g; unsalted butter for the pan 5 g

Quick answer

Total time: 205 min
Level: Medium
Servings: 10 servings
Ingredients: 9

About this dish

Steamed in a covered pot for about 2 hours rather than baked, this bread comes out moist and close-textured, studded with raisins.

Rye, whole wheat and cornmeal share the batter with molasses and buttermilk, so there are no big yeast holes. Molasses darkens it long before it is cooked, which makes a skewer in the center the reliable test. Once cool, it slices thin and goes with butter or alongside bean dishes.

Ingredients

servings

IngredientAmount

unsalted butter for the pan

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Instructions

5 steps

1

Set a steaming rack in a deep pot.

Butter the inside of a 22×11 cm metal loaf pan and the underside of its foil cover. Check that the pan fits with the pot lid closed.
2

Combine the three flours, baking soda, salt and raisins.

Mix buttermilk with molasses separately, then stir into the dry ingredients just until no dry flour remains.
3

Fill the pan no more than two-thirds high.

Dome the foil above the batter and crimp it securely around the rim. Set on the rack and add boiling water to two-thirds of the pan height.
4

Cover the pot and steam at a gentle simmer for about 2 hours.

Check the water level every 30 minutes and replenish with boiling water so it cannot boil dry. A skewer inserted in the center should show no wet batter. Steam in further 10-minute intervals if needed.
5

Turn off the heat and remove the pan carefully, avoiding the steam.

Rest 10 minutes, unmold and cool on a rack about 60 minutes until cool through before slicing thinly.