Boston Brown Bread

Boston brown bread is traditionally made with a mixture of rye, wheat, cornmeal, buttermilk and molasses steamed in a coffee can. I think it encapsulates the "make do" attitude of the first New Englanders.

For this version, I used whole wheat flour and blue corn meal blended with yogurt, milk, molasses, Muscovado sugar, a pinch of salt and baking soda. I poured the batter into a buttered and sugared 4-quart glass bowl, covered it with a circle of parchment paper, wrapped it in muslin and put it in the bottom of a pot of boiling water for about two hours. The "bread" cooked up almost as light as sponge cake. While it looks rich and chocolaty, the overriding flavor here is baking soda. I think next time I would use less of that, if possible, and maybe add in some spices to accent the molasses.