BROWN BREAD

Makes 1 loaf

We had so many requests from New England folks to make gluten-free brown bread that we knew it had to go in this book. Dense and dark with molasses, this is a quick bread without yeast. It’s a very particular taste and texture, which we were able to re-create with our all-purpose flour mix, teff flour, and cornmeal. I love the fact that it bakes up best in a coffee can, set over boiling water in the oven so that it steams. There’s no other recipe quite like this. Still, not having grown up on this bread, I didn’t quite understand why so many people wanted it back. When we were in Boston on our potluck road trip tour, I sat down in a beautiful gluten-free bakery named Glutenus Minimus (you have to love that name), surrounded by over a hundred happy people. When I asked the people at my table about brown bread, their faces grew alive with excitement. “My father made the same dinner for us every Saturday night,” one woman told me. “It was pork and beans and slices of brown bread fried in butter. The thought of never having brown bread again means I can never have that dinner my father made me.” After that, I understood. Boston, this is for you.

Prepare to bake. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Set a large pot of water over high heat and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat to low and let the water simmer. Liberally grease the inside of a 1-pound coffee can with the butter.

Combine the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the teff flour, all-purpose flour blend, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, allspice, and cloves.

Combine the wet ingredients. In another bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and molasses.

Finish the batter. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour in the molasses and buttermilk and whisk the batter together. Add the raisins. The batter will be thick, just a touch too thick to pour easily.

Bake the bread. Scrape the dough into the prepared coffee can. The batter should be no more than two-thirds of the way up to the rim of the coffee can. Cover the coffee can with aluminum foil. Put the coffee can in a large baking pan and slide that into the oven. Carefully, pour enough of the simmering hot water into the baking pan so it comes up one-third the sides of the coffee can. Bake the brown bread until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean, about 2 hours and 20 minutes.

Remove the baking pan from the oven and let it sit for 10 minutes. Carefully, with oven mitts, transfer the coffee can to a wire rack and let it cool for 1 hour before sliding the brown bread out of the coffee can.

Slice into the brown bread. It’s good as it is, but it seems to be most loved fried up in more butter.

Feel like playing?

For those of you looking for a substitution for the teff, it’s going to be hard. Teff flour gives this bread its dark color and distinct taste. You could use another whole-grain flour like sorghum or brown rice in its place, but it won’t replicate the feeling of brown bread. Then again, you could just make yourself a new tradition. Why not?