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Categories: Dessert - Breakfast - Christmas - Bread - Baked - Overnigth Recipe
From: Great Grandmother McGinley (i.e. Gran's Mother)
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Ingredients

For Sponge

Ingredient Amount Notes
Flour 2 Quarts  
Salt 1 Tbsp  
Yeast Cakes 1  
Water ⅓ + 2⅔ cups Warm

For Dough

Ingredient Amount Notes
Flour 5-8 Cups enough “to make bread dough”
Yeast Cakes 1  
Water ⅓ cups Warm
Granulated Sugar 2 cups  
White Raisins 2 boxes  
Eggs 5 Well Beaten
Crisco 1 cup  
Butter ¼ lb  
Cinnamon 1 Tbsp  
Nutmeg 1 tsp  
Candied Citron 1 cup Optional

Method

  1. Prepare the sponge at bedtime the evening before you plan to serve this bread
  2. In the morning, prepare the dough using the sponge which rose overnight
  3. Bake

Prepare Sponge

  1. Combine 2 quarts of flour and 1 Tbsp salt
  2. Dissolve yeast cake in ⅓ cup warm water
  3. Add to flour mixture and stir to combine
  4. Add 2⅔ cups additional warm water
  5. Beat well
  6. Set “sponge” in a warm place to rise overnight

Prepare dough

  1. In the morning add sugar and white raisins to “sponge”
  2. Beat eggs well and add to dough
  3. Melt together crisco and butter, and add to mixture
  4. Add cinnamon and nutmeg
  5. Dissolve yeast cake in ⅓ cup warm water and add to mixture
  6. Add flour slowly until you’ve added enough. Expect 5 to 8 cups. See modern notes

Bake Dough

  1. Grease 6 bread pans
  2. Knead well on cutting board
  3. Cut into 6 parts
  4. Knead each part and put into pans
  5. Stick each with fork 3 times
  6. Set plans in warm place and let rise until doubled in size
  7. Preheat oven to 400 °F while dough is rising
  8. Bake 20-25 minutes until brown and done. Test doneness by tapping on bottom of pan. It will sound hollow when done.

Notes From Gran

  • Gran adds candied citron and other fruits to bread dough
  • Bake Christmas eve
  • Delicious toasted

Modern Notes

  • This is apparently a traditional way of making bread. You make a “sponge” overnight, letting the yeast grow unimpeded overnight. Then you add the remaining ingredients, which tend to slow yeast down, in the morning to turn it into a dough. –David S
  • The recipe is very vague on how much flower is needed. This is due to differening amount of moisture in the other ingredients and humidity in the air mean it is actually variable, and this is one of the skills you develop through experience. I’ve usually seen recipes which call for varying amounts of liquid rather than varying amounts of flour, but this way works too. There are several tests to see whether the dough is ready. It should be a smooth, tacky but not sticky, single mass. There’s also a test you can do based on testing whether you can make a thin enough layer that you can see through it. If you’re new to baking, I’d suggest watching youtube videos on making enriched doughs. – David S
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