Coffee Bread

I made this up the other day, tried it out on myself and friends and decided it was pretty good, so I am sharing with the world (as if anybody actually reads this anyway....)


For bread machine.
1-1/2 cups lukewarm coffee (not hot!)
1/4 cup oil
3 cups white flour
1 cup oat flour
3 Tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons gluten
1 to 1-1/2 teaspoons mace
2-1/2 teaspoons quick acting yeast


Mix together all dry ingredients except yeast.  
Place ingredients into bread machine in order of wet, then dry, then place yeast in a small indention in the flour.


Set bread machine for a 2-pound loaf and bake.    

Nutmeg and Mace

It is likely that everybody who bakes knows nutmeg, but possibly not mace.  Mace and nutmeg come from the same tree.  When nutmeg is harvested, the mace is actually the outer covering of the pods that must be removed to get the nutmeg.  It is sun dried and ground up.  It's flavor is quite similar to, though milder than, nutmeg.  They can be used interchangeably.   However, mace is the more expensive, because for every pound of nutmeg harvested, you only get about 1/2 pound of mace.  Perhaps its best-known use is in doughnuts.  It comes to us mainly from the Moluccas Islands in the Banda Sea, north of Australia.

Wow, I only get to go to HEB to buy mace  - I'd much rather go here for it!!

I know that my Grandmother Adams used to keep mace in her spice cabinet, but I am not sure what she used it for.  Recently, I came across it in the bulk spices area of my grocery store and have been exploring it.  I believe it may be worth keeping in the pantry.

As Julia used to say, Bon apetit!