Tag Archives: without commercial yeast

15 Victorian Bread Baking Secrets – Perfect Bread With Wild Yeast From Scratch

How Victorians baked perfect bread by making their own yeast at home from scratch. 15 Victorian bread baking secrets that are still useful today!

15 Victorian Bread Baking Secrets - Perfect Bread With Wild Yeast From Scratch

The Victorians usually made their own yeast at home from scratch, even if commercial yeast was already available. However, the Victorians believed that wild yeast bread from scratch was better, healthier, more digestible and more flavorful. So they made their own yeast at home with hops, potatoes, flour, peas or grapes. Over the years, I’ve tried different spontaneously fermented bread recipes from the Victorian era: Some failed and some turned out delicious! Continue reading 15 Victorian Bread Baking Secrets – Perfect Bread With Wild Yeast From Scratch

Ancient Grape Must Bread With Grape Yeast Water

Bake ancient Roman grape must bread with only 3 ingredients! This wild yeast bread with grape yeast water is so easy to make and so delicious!

Ancient Grape Must Bread With Grape Yeast Water

Grape must bread is an ancient wild yeast bread recipe: Pliny published it in Naturalis Historia in 77 AD! 😀 Because the Romans didn’t have commercial yeast back then they usually made used must or fresh wine to make their own yeast from scratch. Continue reading Ancient Grape Must Bread With Grape Yeast Water

Hops Yeast Starter – Victorian Wild Yeast Bread

Make delicious wild yeast bread with hops yeast water starter from scratch!

Hops Yeast Starter - Wild Yeast Bread

The Victorians usually made their own yeast at home from scratch, even if commercial yeast was already available back then. But they preferred bread with homemade yeast because it was more flavorful and healthier.

In the Victorian era, homemade yeast from scratch usually contained hops. Just like beer, hops yeast bread tastes bitter because of the hops. This bitter taste is unusual in bread but not in an unpleasant way. And besides the bitter taste, hops yeast bread is also very moist compared to other wild yeast breads. Continue reading Hops Yeast Starter – Victorian Wild Yeast Bread

Victorian Graham Bread – No Yeast & Vegan

Victorian Graham Bread - No Yeast & Vegan

In the Victorian era, Graham bread was promoted as healthy bread. Graham bread is named after Sylvester Graham, a minister and dietary reformer. Victorians preferred white bread, whereas whole-wheat bread was considered rural and therefore inferior. Graham, however, argued that white bread is unhealthy because it was usually made from bleached whole-wheat flour at the time. No wonder that he propagated Graham bread as healthier than faux white bread that is loaded with toxic chemicals! Continue reading Victorian Graham Bread – No Yeast & Vegan

Victorian Salt Rising Bread – No-Yeast & Vegan

This old-fashioned salt rising bread has a mild taste. Unlike other salt rising bread recipes it has absolutely no cheese taste! And although it’s made from scratch, it’s quick to make: the bread is ready in just 7 hours! The Victorian salt rising bread is even allergy-friendly because it’s dairy-free, yeast-free, nut-free and vegan!

Victorian Salt Rising Bread

‘Salt-rising, or rather milk-rising bread[…] looks finer, tastes better, and is more healthy, beside being less work about making it than the common yeast bread. […] This bread if made aright, is white, moist, tender, [and] sweet’ (The Ohio Cultivator, 1859, p. 223).

The recipe for this salt rising bread is actually from the Victorian era, from 1859 to be precise! If you follow my blog, you know that I’m trying out old recipes from time to time: Victorian recipes, Edwardian recipes, Depression era recipes and sometimes even medieval recipes! And making this Victorian salt rising bread was on my list for a long time and now I finally made it!

The Victorian salt rising bread is the sixth recipe in my series about historical bread recipes without commercial yeast. Continue reading Victorian Salt Rising Bread – No-Yeast & Vegan

Sprouted Sourdough Bread From Scratch – No Flour & No Yeast!

This 2-ingredient sprouted sourdough bread from scratch is made without flour! Yes, you read that right! You’ll only need grains and water for the sprouted sourdough bread!

Sprouted Sourdough Bread From Scratch - No Flour No Yeast

After reading about bread history – wild yeast bread, fermented grain drinks, flatbread and sourdough bread – I was interested in trying to make sourdough bread with just grains and water. This sprouted sourdough bread is basically a baked soured grain porridge just like a prehistoric human might have made it.

I couldn’t find a recipe for sprouted sourdough bread made with just grains and water – without yeast and flour – so I came up with this recipe. While the prehistoric human would have used two stones or a mortar to crush the grains I used a blender! 😉 Continue reading Sprouted Sourdough Bread From Scratch – No Flour & No Yeast!

Naturally Green St. Patrick’s Day Sunflower Bread – Nut-Free, Grain-Free, Dairy-Free, Yeast-Free

Naturally Green St. Patrick's Day Sunflower Bread - Nut-Free, Grain-Free, Dairy-Free, Yeast-Free, Paleo, Keto

This naturally green St. Patrick’s Day bread is yeast-free, gluten-free, grain-free, nut-free, dairy-free, paleo and keto friendly. It’s made with four ingredients: sunflower seeds, eggs, baking soda and vinegar. And what’s best, the St. Patrick’s Day bread is naturally green! The sunflower seeds + baking soda turn the bread green when it cools down. Continue reading Naturally Green St. Patrick’s Day Sunflower Bread – Nut-Free, Grain-Free, Dairy-Free, Yeast-Free

Chickpea Leavened Bread Without Commercial Yeast

Chickpea Leavened Bread Without Commercial Yeast

I tried out another one of the historical bread recipes which are made without commercial yeast. This time I made the ‘Turkish Pea Yeast’ of 1819. It’s a recipe for bread which is naturally leavened with pea starter. Even today, bread is naturally leavened with yeast-free chickpea starters: In Greece chickpea leavened bread is called eftazymo, in Cyprus arkatena and in Turkey it’s called nohutlu ekmek. And here are two more recipe for chickpea leavened bread: chickpea yeast bread and arkatenio or eftazymo recipe. Continue reading Chickpea Leavened Bread Without Commercial Yeast

Bread Recipe With Wild Yeast – With Honey Water Or Fruit Yeast

You don’t need commercial yeast to make a delicious loaf of bread! Bake homemade bread with wild yeast from scratch. I’ll show you two alternatives to make wild yeast starter from scratch at home with fermented honey water or fruit yeast water. Bread with wild yeast starter is easy and cheap to make and so delicious – it tastes just like ordinary yeast bread or even better!

How To Make Wild Yeast Bread With Fermented Honey Water Or Fruit Yeast Water

Wild yeast bread is made by spontaneous fermentation involving wild yeasts and lactobacilli. Honey and fruit water is used to catch wild yeasts and lactobacilli which naturally leaven the bread. Wild yeast bread with fermented honey water or fruit yeast water has hardly any taste at all – a sweet and mild taste – like store-bought white bread. So start a fun kitchen science project today and bake bread with wild yeast from scratch! Continue reading Bread Recipe With Wild Yeast – With Honey Water Or Fruit Yeast

Victorian Yeast Substitute

Victorian Yeast Substitute - Homemade Bread

In the Victorian era, yeast was sometimes made at home. The last days I tried out another Victorian yeast substitute recipe. The other Victorian yeast substitute was made with fresh hops, this homemade yeast just needs flour, sugar and water. I made two different yeast starter: one with white flour, and one with whole wheat flour Continue reading Victorian Yeast Substitute