Good Ole Southern Cooking

Salt Rising Bread

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My Nanny was the best baker in all of Lexington. She was called on to cater weddings and make cakes for many occasions. While she was known for her delicious and beautiful cakes (especially her fruit cakes for Christmas soaked in bourbon), my favorite food she prepared was her Salt-Rising bread. Her own mother perfected the recipe and handed it down. It was so delicious that it was easy to excuse the horrible smell wafting from her house during the fermenting process. My Nanny died in 1998, but we were fortunate that our mother collected her recipes and gave us each a binder filled with all of her favorites written out in her longhand. She rated this recipe with an A and wrote, “This is the one I use all the time. It is very very good!”

Ingredients:
1 large potato sliced very thin
2 heaping TBS white cornmeal
2 heaping TBS all-purpose flour
½ TSP each: soda, salt, baking powder
1 TBS sugar
2 cups boiling water
About 3 cups all-purpose flour with ½ TSP each: soda, salt,

and baking powder and 1 TSP sugar
3 quarts flour (maybe more or less)
1 TBS salt
¼ cup sugar
¾ cup shortening
1 quart box milk (maybe a little more or less)















 

 

 

 

 

Next morning: It’s ready when you see a heavy,

frothy foam and smell a distinctive order.

Take the foam from the potatoes and place in

3 pound can. Discard potatoes .Combine 3 cups

flour with ½ TSP each: soda, salt, and baking

powder and 1 TSP sugar. Stir into the mixture

in the can and stir well. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                           

 

 

                                                         

 

 

                                                           Set can in warm place and in warm water. Cover with cloth and keep even t                                                                                 temperature. This should rise quickly. To be good will run over.
 

 

In large mixing bowl, sift 3 cups of flour, 1 TBS salt, ¼ cup or more of sugar, work in ¾ cup of soft shortening real well. Pour rising batter into flour mixture and add in hot milk. Not too hot.

Mix well to a soft dough. You may add in more flour if needed or even less. Just so to have right to handle. 

Knead dough. At least 20 minutes. 














Shape into 4 loaves. Place in greased pans. Grease tops and score with teaspoon. Set in warm place again til double in size. 

Bake 400 degrees then decrease to 375 degrees. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bake all together about 1 hour. 


When loaf sounds hollow, it is done.