Pot Loaves

Baking bread in tins to form uniformly shaped loaves was mainly a British invention, the Dutch being the only other country to use this method extensively. Before mass produced tinware made its appearance, English household bread was either baked in earthenware crocks glazed on the inside only, or the loaves were hand-molded and fed into the oven on wooden peels in the ancient manner. It was not until the seventeenth century that deep tin or wooden hoops or round iron cake pans were used for baking leavened bread. It was also at this time in history that bakeware such as earthenware dishes for pies, flat tins and baking sheets for gingerbread, small cakes, biscuits and confectionery made their appearance. This bakeware is mentioned by English cookbook author Robert May in 1660 in The Accomplist Cook, but no mention of them is found in other cook books until the turn of the eighteenth century. Actually it was quite a common practice in England at that time to put bread dough into round earthen crocks, rather shallow, wide at the top and with sloping sides, like a ceramic flower pot. In fact one modern way to bake bread is to bake it in a standard ceramic flower pot. Here’s how you do that:

1 cup whole wheat flour

3 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 teaspoons yeast

2/3 cup lukewarm milk

1 1/2 cups lukewarm water

4 tablespoons butter, melted

1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

1 teaspoon sage

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 egg

You’ll need two 5 1/2 inch diameter, 4 1/2 inch high clay flowerpots. To prepare new clay flower pots for baking: Clean the pots thoroughly, oil them inside and outside with vegetable oil. Bake the pots at 400 F for 30 to 40 minutes. Take them out, let them cool, then repeat the process.

When you’re ready to make the bread, grease the two pots. Whisk the flours and salt together into a large bowl. Whisk the yeast into a little of the milk until smooth, then add the remaining milk. Pour the yeast mixture into a well in the center of the flour. Sprinkle a little flour from the edge onto the pool of milk. Cover the bowl and set in a warm place for 15 minutes. Mix the water, melted butter, herbs and garlic in a medium bowl and add to the flour mixture. Stir to form a dough. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic. Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place for one and a half hours or until doubled in bulk. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and punch down. Divide the dough in two. Put half of the dough into each of the two flower pots. This should leave the pots about half full. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 30 to 45 minutes or until the dough is about one inch from the top of the pots.

Preheat the oven to 400 F (200 C). Brush the tops of the loaves with beaten egg. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until golden. Turn out the loaves onto a wire rack to cool.