MIMI'S SUNDAY BREAD
A family recipe from 1931, shared by a Golden Tech Club member.
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The Story Behind This Recipe
Mimi, short for Amelia, baked this bread nearly every Sunday morning of her married life, starting in a small kitchen outside Baltimore in 1931. Flour and yeast were precious in those years, so she measured mostly by feel rather than by rule, kneading the same dough on the same worn wooden table for over sixty years. Grandchildren remember waking up to the smell of it rising near the stove long before it ever reached the oven, and to this day, nobody in the family has quite managed to make it taste the same.
Mimi's Sunday Bread
A family recipe, since 1931
What You'll Need
- 2 cups warm milk
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon active dry yeast (Mimi used one cake of compressed yeast)
- 6 cups all purpose flour, plus more for kneading
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 3 tablespoons melted butter, or lard if you have it
How to Make It
- Warm the milk until just lukewarm. Stir in the sugar, then sprinkle the yeast over the top and let it sit until foamy, about 10 minutes.
- In a large bowl, stir together the flour and salt. Make a well in the center and pour in the yeast mixture along with the melted butter.
- Mix, then knead until the dough is smooth and springs back when pressed, about 10 minutes by hand.
- Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover with a clean towel, and let it rise in a warm spot until doubled, about 1 hour.
- Punch down the dough, divide it in two, and shape each half into a loaf. Place in greased loaf pans and let rise again until doubled, about 45 minutes.
- Bake at 375 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes, until golden brown on top and the loaf sounds hollow when you tap its bottom.
- Cool on a rack before slicing, if you can wait that long.
Mimi always said the trick was a warm kitchen and a little patience. If your first rise looks slow, give it more time rather than more heat.