The recipe for Cousin Doris' Warm Molasses Bread was passed down to me by my grandmother. Like many other recipes, it came with a story. However, this one captivated me so that I find myself thinking of Doris every so often. The bread was quick and simple to make, with the aroma of dark molasses. It’s also very easily adaptable. Add pecans or walnuts, a little ground cloves and nutmeg to give it extra spice.
The flavors are magnificent and intriguing, much like the story of Doris..
Warm Molasses Bread & A Story Of Love On Freeman Beach
- Yield: 6 servings
- Prep Time: 30 min
- Cooking Time: 1 hr
Ingredients
- 2 cups Self Rising Flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
- ½ cup molasses
- ½ cup granulted sugar
- 1 cup boiling water
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 350. Prepare a 9 x 5 loaf pan by coating with non-sick cooking spray
- In a large bowl sift together the flour, baking soda, cocoa powder, and cinnamon. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, combine the butter, molasses, and sugar.
- Pour the boiling water over molasses mixture, stirring to combine all ingredients. Once the mixture has cooled,add in the flour mixture and the eggs, mixing to incorporate all the ingredients together
- Pour the batter into prepared loaf pan and bake at 350 for about 1 hour. Or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven.
- This bread is best served warm, but you can allow it to cool on a wire rack before slicing.
Recipe Tags
When I think of the beach, I think of standing in the sand as the water waves over my feet, and the tide threatens to pull me in like some invisible surfboard that tingles between my toes. Looking into the distance at the fading sails and bright rays of sun, I think of Freeman Beach.
Freeman Beach or Seabreeze, a coastal town in Wilmington North Carolina, was a popular beach resort for African Americans in the 1920s to the 1960s, as they were unable to visit any other beaches in the state during the Jim Crow era. Founded by a free man of color named Alexander Freeman, it's origins are a story in and of itself. There's an account of a great Seminole nation war chief, born of Native and African blood, who Alexander Freeman and his family supposedly descended from.
That I'm unsure of, however I do know of Doris and the love she found on Freeman Beach.
Due to it's popularity gained somewhat out of necessity, thousands flocked to Seabreeze. During the summers, church groups and school camps came on buses and took root on the shores of what was commonly knows as "Bop City". All in search of fun and vacation, a place to relax and escape the despotism of segregation. Doris was a young woman (some distant cousin of mine) spent time in Seabreeze with her family, which consisted of 4 sisters including her.
One summer somewhere on top of the wooden dance floor of a local piccolo (Juke Joint) she met Sam, a tall man who had all the right moves. His smile was infectious and his appeal was hypnotizing. They would spend the entire time Doris was there…together, riding Ferris wheels and hanging off boat piers, her sneaking away from family gatherings and him always being on time.
When it was ultimately time to leave, they made plans to meet again on the shores of Seabreeze, to which they did that next year after numerous exchanges via long love letters. Sam introduced her to Ms. Sally Wade’s hot clam fritters, while they sang along to Fat's Dominos "Aint that a shame", streaming from the Juke Joint a few steps away.
Alas, things must come to an end. They departed again with plans to reunite. Then like an angry mob, Hurricane Hazel blew through the beloved seaside town, leaving devastating demise in its wake. Places were destroyed and ultimately places came down. Doris went on continuing to write to Sam, who’d since enlisted in the Army.
At first a reunion seemed hopeful. Then letters eventually went unanswered and Doris became the last of her sisters to be un-wed. A year would pass with no sign of Sam and much like what used to be the bustling shores of Seabreeze, their relationship became desolate, nothing but an old legend for folks to share. But there’s truth to this story, just like there’s truth to the account of Freeman Beach. All past down from person to person within my family, along with the recipe for cousin Doris’s warm molasses bread.
The town of Seabreeze is an actually place, a small strip of land that runs alongside Carolina Beach in Wilmington, NC. Being from North Carolina, I heard numerous tales of Freeman Beach/Sebreeze, but to my astonishment, the history of this place seems to have washed away like the debris left behind after the hurricane.
I never had the pleasure of meeting the lovely love-struck Doris, however her recipe for warm sweet bread with hints of molasses and the rich flavor of chocolate is one that I use often.
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