Boston brown bread

Step 1: Use the ⅓ oz butter to grease the inside of two clean 400 g food tins (or a 1 litre pudding basin) and a square of foil for each top. Put a folded tea towel in the bottom of a deep pan and put the kettle on.

Step 2: Whisk the 2 ⅞ oz rye flour, 2 ⅞ oz wholemeal flour, 2 ⅞ oz fine cornmeal, 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda and ½ tsp salt together in a bowl.

Step 3: Stir the 1 ¼ cups buttermilk and ½ cup molasses (black treacle) together, pour into the dry mix and stir just until no flour shows, then fold in the 2 ⅝ oz raisins. The batter is loose, like thick porridge.

Step 4: Spoon the batter into the tins so they are two-thirds full, then cover each tightly with buttered foil, tied with string. A common mistake is filling them to the top; the bread rises and pushes the foil off.

Step 5: Stand the tins on the towel and pour in boiling water to come halfway up. Cover the pan and keep at a gentle simmer for 2 hours, topping up with boiling water.

Step 6: It is done when a skewer comes out clean and the top springs back. Cool 10 minutes, slide out of the tins and slice into rounds with a taut piece of string or a serrated knife.