Sally Lunn Bread has been on my “To Bake” list for quite some time. Actually it was so simple to make that I regret putting it off for so long. The dough is soft as it is laden with butter and eggs and promises to be a treat. I almost always can tell how my yeast-leavened breads will ultimately be; by the way the dough feels.

I expect this bread to be a treat which can be eaten either hot out of the oven or at room temperature. My plans are to try the hot out of the oven version. It is a sunny yet chilly day today in Charleston. The windows are cracked open just a tad, for fresh air to enter. As I type away upstairs in my office, I can smell the bread baking below me in the kitchen.

Some strawberry jam and European butter are set aside to be slathered on top of the hot bread as soon as it emerges from the oven. While I wait in anticipation I wanted to share a brief history of Sally Lunn. No two accounts are the same and no one is in agreement as to the origin of Sally Lunn. Sally and her bread remain a mystery and will most likely never be solved. This is the version that I choose to believe.

Solange Luyon was a young Huguenot (French Protestant) refugee from France who began working at a bakery in Bath after arriving in England sometime during 1685 or shortly after. She began baking the cakes and selling them on the streets to everyone’s enjoyment. The breads or cakes as they were originally called were eventually named after her in the English version “Sally Lunn”. These brioche style buns eventually made their way to the states when settlers arrived in Virginia. They became a beloved bread in the South making their way into almost every cookbook that you can find.

There is a place in Bath were you can dine on these buns and enjoy a visit at her home. It is said that the original secret recipe is kept under lock and key at the home, and is only revealed to the owner of the property as it is passed down with the deed.

Got to run as it is time for this cook to run, as I hear the faint sound of the buzzer ringing downstairs. This can only mean one thing-my Sally Lunn bread is ready to be taken out of the oven and eaten hot. God, I love a quite Sunday at home with the smell of fresh bread baking. There is much joy in the simple pleasures of life………my heart is filled with gratitude.

Sally Lunn Bread

James Villas, The Glory of Southern Cooking

1 envelope active dry yeast

1 tablespoon sugar

1/4 cup lukewarm water

1 cup lukewarm whole milk

2 large eggs, beaten

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (Southern- White Lily)

1 stick butter, melted

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup sugar-optional for a sweeter bread

In a large bowl, combine the yeast, sugar and water, stir, and let proof till bubbly, about 5 minutes. Add the milk and eggs and beat with a wooden spoon till well blended. Gradually add half the flour and continue beating till well mixed. Add the melted butter and salt and beat till well blended, then beat in the remaining flour and extra sugar if you want the sweet version till a softish dough forms. It will be somewhat sticky, don’t fret about this.

Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place till doubled in bulk, about an hour or so. Punch the dough down, cover again and let stand for about 15 minutes. You might need to sprinkle a pinch of flour before punching down so that the dough doesn’t stick to your hand.

Grease a 10inch tube pan generously with butter and then scrape the dough evenly in the tube pan. Cover and let rise again about 45-60 minutes till double in bulk.

Place in a preheated oven of 350degrees and bake till the loaf is lightly browned, which will take about 1 hour. Serve immediately hot out of the oven or cool on a wire rac, and serve at room temperature.