Chapter 3

FANCY DOIN’S

OTHER BREADS AND BAKED GOODS

Baking has always been a center-stage affair in Appalachian cooking, and it extends far beyond the daily routines involving cornbread and biscuits. This chapter looks at a small but representative cross section of other types of baked goods along with a couple of stove-top preparations from batter. Some type of sweetening figures in every offering but the first, and even with pancakes, there’s a traditional topping of syrup, honey, jam or jelly. In reality, there’s no clear dividing line between the recipes here—other than the use of the name bread rather than cake or pie—and some of those found in the latter portion of the book devoted to desserts.

All sorts of sweet breads have long found a home in Appalachian kitchens. Vegetables such as zucchini and squash, fruits such as persimmons and bananas, pumpkins and other members of the winter squash family and many further options await blending with flour, eggs, perhaps nuts and suitable seasonings to produce a dessert bread: something to enjoy with breakfast or perhaps a midafternoon pick-me-up anointed with cream cheese.

Traditional Buttermilk Pancakes

Appalachian folks have long prepared various types of bread by cooking in a pan or on a griddle as opposed to oven baking. Griddle cakes, hoe cakes and flapjacks are but a few of many examples. One enduring favorite is pancakes, a traditional breakfast foodstuff topped with sorghum syrup, honey, maple syrup, jelly or jam and often viewed as a special treat. Store-bought flour produced especially for pancakes can be used, but if you have access to stone-ground buckwheat flour, try it in this recipe for a delightful difference in taste and texture (and buckwheat is gluten-free).

A stack of buttermilk pancakes awaiting syrup or honey. Tipper Pressley.

1 egg

2 tablespoons vegetable oil, bacon grease or lard

2 cups pancake flour (quality of this type of flour can vary a great deal—one of the best is the buttermilk flour from Pearl Milling Company, an operation that formerly carried the Aunt Jemima brand name)

1½ cups buttermilk

Preheat your griddle to 375 degrees (you can also use a cast-iron skillet, but it will not hold as many pancakes, and turning them is a bit more difficult). Mix ingredients in a bowl with a pour spout, using a whisk. Stir until well blended, and if necessary, add buttermilk to obtain desired batter consistency (it should pour readily but still have a modest degree of thickness). Pour sufficient portions of batter to make 4-inch pancakes atop your preheated griddle. Allow to cook for 1½ minutes and then flip and cook for 1 additional minute. Make sure pancakes are browned on both sides and fully done. This recipe makes a dozen pancakes and can be doubled or tripled for larger groups.

TIPS:

1. Pancakes warm over quite well in a microwave.
2. Add chocolate chips, blueberries, slices of banana, bits of peaches, pitted and chopped cherries or other treats to your batter. Alternatively, to make sure these are evenly distributed, incorporate them into the top of each pancake before turning it.
3. When serving, rather than topping pancakes with syrup, pour syrup into the bottom of a plate and place the pancakes atop it.

—Jim Casada

Black Walnut and Banana Bread

½ cup vegetable oil

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 cups very ripe bananas, mashed with a fork

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ cup finely chopped black walnuts

Mix vegetable oil, sugar, eggs and bananas well. Add flour, salt, baking soda and walnuts and mix thoroughly. Place in greased loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or in four small loaf pans for 40 minutes.

TIP: Ripe bananas can be frozen, and it is also often possible to pick them up in grocery stores at greatly reduced rates.

—Jim Casada

Pap’s Sweet Bread

Lard

2 eggs

¼ cup butter

1 cup milk

2 teaspoons vanilla

¾ cup sugar

2 cups self-rising flour

Preheat your oven to 350. Heat two cast-iron pans on the stove; add a spoonful of lard to each. While the lard is melting, break two eggs in a mixing bowl. Next, divide butter in half, adding one half to each pan. Add milk to eggs and mix well; add vanilla and mix well. Once butter is melted, pour most of it into the milk-and-egg mixture and stir well. Pap said he liked to melt his butter in the frying pan because it’s one less dish to wash. Next, add sugar to mixture and stir well. Add flour and stir until smooth. Divide batter equally between the two pans and place in the oven. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Frosting can be added to the bread, but our favorite way to eat it is straight out of the pan. Pap liked to open a can of Granny’s peaches to eat with his.

—Tipper Pressley

Granny Gazzie’s Gingerbread Cookies

2½ tablespoons lard or shortening

1 cup sorghum syrup

1 egg

1 teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

¼ cup milk

3 cups self-rising flour

Beat lard and syrup until well blended; add egg and beat well. Mix spices with flour. Alternately, add milk and flour to syrup mixture to make a soft dough. Using additional flour, roll out dough and cut into desired shapes. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until done. Baking time will depend on thickness of cookie.

TIP: Use a toothpick to make simple designs on your cookies before baking.

—Tipper Pressley

Pumpkin Bread

2½ cups sugar

3 eggs

15 ounces cooked pumpkin

Tipper Pressley savoring a slice of freshly made pumpkin bread. Corie Graddick.

1 cup shortening

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1¼ teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon cloves

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon allspice

1½ cups black walnuts

Combine sugar, eggs, pumpkin and shortening. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and allspice. Combine pumpkin mixture with sifted mixture. Stir in black walnuts. Pour into greased loaf pans and bake for an hour at 350 degrees.

NOTE: Other nuts may be used; pecans are especially good in this recipe.

—Jim Casada

Honey Nut Bread

2 cups flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup coarsely chopped nuts

1 egg, beaten

½ cup honey

½ cup milk

2 tablespoons melted butter

Sift dry ingredients and add nuts (pecans, English walnuts, black walnuts or even hickory nuts can be used). Combine beaten egg, honey, milk and melted butter; add to first mixture. Stir until ingredients are just moist. Bake in greased bread pan at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes or until done. Makes wonderful breakfast bread when sliced and toasted.

NOTE: Honey nut bread goes especially well with a smear of cream cheese.

—Tipper Pressley

Apple Bread

This apple bread is very tasty; it’s perfect for breakfast or an evening snack.

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon salt

½ cup softened butter

1½ cups sugar

2 eggs

2 cups finely shredded apples

½ cup chopped nuts (black walnuts are especially good)

Sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and set aside. Cream butter and sugar until light. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Add flour mixture and apples alternately. Stir in walnuts. Spoon into a well-greased loaf pan or use parchment paper to line the pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until done. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely.

—Tipper Pressley

Zucchini Bread

3 eggs

2 cups sugar

1 cup oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 cups grated zucchini

1 cup nuts

Beat eggs and sugar; add oil and lemon juice. Sift together flour and remaining dry ingredients; add to egg mixture. Mix well. Stir in zucchini and nuts. Bake in greased loaf pans at 325 degrees for 55 to 60 minutes or until done.

TIP: Pecan halves can be laid on top of the loaves for extra visual appeal.

—Jim Casada

A loaf of pecan-studded zucchini bread. Tipper Pressley.

Smoky Mountain Persimmon Bread

3½ cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

Pinch (maybe half a teaspoon) of nutmeg or allspice

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 cups sugar (either brown sugar or refined sugar works fine)

1 cup (2 sticks) melted butter (allow to cool to room temperature after melting)

4 large eggs, lightly whisked

⅔ cup bourbon (a cheap brand is fine)

2 brimming cups of persimmon pulp (fruits should be squishy ripe, and incidentally, pulp freezes well)

1 cup black walnuts (you can substitute 2 cups lightly toasted and chopped pecans or English walnuts)

2 cups dried fruit, such as apricots, raisins, yellow raisins or dates

Preheat oven to 350. Butter a pair of loaf pans or use nonstick pans. Sift flour, salt, spice, baking soda and sugar into a large plastic mixing bowl. Whisk in the butter, eggs, bourbon and persimmon pulp until thoroughly mixed. Add and whisk in nuts and dried fruit. Place batter in pans and slide into preheated oven. Check periodically as bread begins to brown by inserting a toothpick. When the toothpick comes out clean, the bread is ready. Cooking time varies depending on the configuration of pans you use.

NOTE: Once cooled, wrap to keep moist. The bread will keep several days (but likely be eaten much sooner), and it freezes well. It is rich and somewhat reminiscent of a dark fruitcake.

—Jim Casada

Slices of Smoky Mountain persimmon bread. Tipper Pressley.

Cocoa Bread with Peaches

1 cup boiling water

½ cup butter, melted

½ cup sorghum syrup

½ cup sugar

2 eggs, beaten

2 cups self-rising flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ cup cocoa

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Peaches, fresh or canned

Stir together water, butter, sorghum and sugar. Let cool slightly. Stir in eggs. Sift remaining ingredients together; add to water mixture and stir until smooth. Bake in a greased and floured 8-inch square baking pan at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until done. Top with slices of fresh or canned peaches.

—Tipper Pressley

Molasses Bread

2 cups plain flour

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ginger

2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

⅓ cup melted butter

1 cup molasses

¾ cup buttermilk

1 egg

Sift all dry ingredients together. Stir in melted butter and molasses, mixing well. Add milk and egg; mix well. Pour mixture into a greased loaf pan and bake at 350 for 45 to 50 minutes or until done.

TIP: If you don’t have buttermilk available, add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to 1 cup of whole milk as a substitute.

—Tipper Pressley