Our City Homestead took an adventure off the city homestead to visit John Walter Museum to make old fashioned raisin bread in the wood cookstove.
We went to the John Walter Museum in Edmonton which is located in the heart of the River Valley to make old fashioned raisin bread baked in a wood cookstove. I was most excited to learn about cooking in a wood cookstove along with all of the history!
The John Walter Museum has three of John Walter’s original houses. John Walter had a big impact on Edmonton and its community and I always learn something new each time I visit here. A couple of his houses have been modernized a bit for safety precautions so the public can view the upstairs and classes and workshops can be held here, but otherwise, these houses are in great shape! It is hard to believe they are well over 100 years old! Pictured here is John Walter’s 1876 and 1884 houses.
Below, is John Walter’s third house, built in 1901. This is where we made the bread. This house was originally up on a hill near the High Level Bridge, not far from here. They said that the house would shake when the train went by, but at least the house survived being in a higher location, when the river valley flooded in 1915. John Walter lost much of his businesses like the community’s largest sawmill, and he unfortunately had a hard time recovering from it all. John Walter is noted for creating Edmonton’s first ferry which connected the North and south banks of the North Saskatchewan River. The Walterdale community was once a bustling industrial hub with sawmills, coal mines, brick yards and more which flourished. The workers and their families lived in this community, but after the flood, many did not return. Today, river valley parks and natural vegetation line these river banks.
Once inside, we got to work making bread together. We combined sugar, flour, salt, nutmeg, oil and egg together. The yeast was added to the water while the raisins soaked for a bit. Then the raisins were drained and stirred with a bit of flour before being added with the water to the flour mixture. It was stirred well, then kneaded for 7 minutes — we all took turns.
There was a batch of dough that was made earlier and proofed so we could shape into loaves.
Then it proofed for a bit in the warming area of the cookstove.
While the bread proofed and then baked, we toured John Walter’s other two homes. He was a businessman and had many businesses that were important to Edmonton’s development. He operated a ferry to take people across the North Saskatchewan River where Fort Edmonton was located. He also operated a small general store from his home, trading and helping those in the Walterdale community.
John Walter came to Canada from Scotland, as a craftsman to build York Boats, when he was recruited by the Hudson’s Bay Company who owned Fort Edmonton. York Boats were commonly used on the North Saskatchewan River at that time. He left Scotland along with 60 other men, in June of 1870 and arrived at Fort Edmonton that Christmas Eve. Hudson’s Bay Company provided room and board, and took any expenses out before paying wages. He signed a five year contract with HBC and then after, decided to try to make it on his own. This house here, was his first house he built in 1876, when he was 27 years old and is located on his original land plot.
In 1876, the house was small and cozy but still was a lovely home and built with no nails which I find remarkable. The log ends were dovetailed to fit together. He had to have started the house in the spring and be completed before the blustering winter came. There is an upstairs where bedrooms would have been, the kitchen area with wood cookstove, the main living area and the general store area to the side. The back door goes out to the banks of the river. There is a trap door in the floor, now covered by rugs which would originally have been the root cellar. The walls were whitewashed and the museum keeps up the maintenance on this historic home.
I felt like it was quite a large home for 1876, and would no doubt be cozy, but perhaps a bit cold in the winter since the cookstove is much smaller during this time period. The general store had a variety of things that the Fort did not have like tea, spices, blankets and other goods fellow neighbors may have needed. People could also trade beaver pelts for items in his store area. I think that is fascinating. I am not sure if I lived in that time if I would have thought to start such a business.
Next, we visited his home built in 1884. He built this home to live in since his first home was used more as a general store, also located on his original land plot.
There are all kinds of neat artifacts like a contraption for beating rugs, a small basket used to make popcorn, the butter churner, ice box to keep things cold plus so much more. We can see how much things have changed from 1876 to 1884, especially with the cookstove. There is also more furniture now and since John Walter had a lumber mill and sawmill, there are milled boards for the walls, ceilings and floors which became increasingly popular at this time. John married his wife Annie in 1886 and they later had two children. This is where the family would have lived until they built their house, completed in 1901.
I have always wanted to cook on a cookstove such as this. I have never had the opportunity to do so, but this is my favorite part of these museums! I helped warm soup on the cookstove at Fort Edmonton for a Girl Guide trip, but never had I the chance to stoke the fire and actually cook on it. I always flock to the kitchen first and look around at all the different things that they used at that time. Kitchens were definitely simpler then. I feel like we can get so carried away with having many pans and baking dishes, utensils, and numerous appliances. It makes me think of downsizing my kitchen to keep just what we need and use on a daily basis. Could you see yourself stoking the fire to cook a meal here?
We had a tour of the 1901 house which is much more lavish and was considered a mansion. Construction began in 1899 and was completed in 1901. This house had an indoor pump for water, electricity and a much nicer wood cookstove that had a valve for hot water and later the house had indoor plumbing. When Mrs. Walter could no longer do the stairs, she had a bedroom off the parlor. There are a lot of stairs in this house — two sets that go upstairs from different directions. The upstairs would have been bedrooms, but now the upstairs has been modernized and is used for different classes and school field trips.
We got the tour of the kitchen last. Just to the left of the cookstove is this pantry area. As you head towards the parlor, there is a room that was used for kitchen storage. I think this pantry is quite nice for 1901.
After the tour, the bread was ready. It smelled divine. Nothing beats homemade bread! And the scent of nutmeg filled the whole house. This would be great during the holidays! I was surprised just how large the oven was inside and how many pans could fit in this oven.
Here you can see the tap on the side. It was quite the convenience at that time to be able to have hot water for washing dishes and hands or for drinking tea or coffee with.
And that ended our tour. We got to have tea or hot chocolate and taste a piece of the bread fresh from the oven. We went home with dough that we made together so we could bake a loaf of bread at home.
If you would like to read the fascinating life of John Walter, and all he did for the start of Edmonton, you can find that here: Biography of John Walter . There is also quite the interesting video about the flood of 1915 which you can view here: City of Edmonton Archives Great Flood of 1915
This is the dough we got to go home with. It was very dense and heavy even after proofing. I decided to divide it into two loaves since the recipe makes about 4 loaves and let it proof a bit. Unfortunately the dough did not rise much. I am not sure if this was because we were outside in -14C/6F to get the dough to the car, the extremely hot water used which potentially wrecked the effectiveness of the yeast or the extra kneading we did. I baked it to see what would happen, and after an hour, the dough appeared raw on the inside. It’s heavy, dense and not like any bread I have made before.
Once baked, I sliced one of the loaves, toasted up a piece to have with tea which is simply delicious, but is a very heavy dough. I knew I had to try it again. I could see the potential in this yummy old fashioned bread.
We learned breads made with raisins dates back to the 15th century and receipts for “raisin bread” date back to 1845, gaining more popularity in the late 1800’s. Raisins were used often in the 1930’s and 1940’s in breads and other baked goods because of their higher iron content, so it was thought then that people should eat more raisins.
Here is the original recipe we received from the John Walter Museum:
I knew I just had to make this recipe again! I have adjusted the recipe, changed it just a bit and I have cut the recipe in half. And the bread turned out absolutely amazing! I am sharing the newly modified recipe with you now!
“Happiness is the smell of freshly baked bread.”
– unknown
Let’s get started!
First, we are going to soak 1 cup of raisins in warm water for about 10 minutes. This helps hydrate the raisins so they do not dry the bread out too much because raisins will absorb the moisture in the bread if left dried.
While the raisins soak we will prep the yeast. In 2 cups of warm water, add 1 tsp of sugar and 1 tbsp of yeast. I do not know the temperature, but I use warm water — I put my hand in and if it is just warm and comfortable, then that is the water I use. If it is too hot I dump it out, and try again. If it will burn you, it is far too hot. Hot water will damage the yeast and a heavy dense bread will result. Stir the yeast in the warm water and let sit about 10 minutes. In a large bowl, add 3 cups of flour, 1 egg, 1/3 cup oil, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tsp salt and 3/4 tbsp cinnamon. We like cinnamon much more than nutmeg, so I used cinnamon instead. If you prefer nutmeg, I would use about 1/2 tbsp of nutmeg.
Drain the raisins and mix them with flour. Dredging the raisins with flour will help the raisins to be distributed throughout the bread.
Stir the flour a bit.
Then pour the yeast mixture into the flour.
Stir the dough.
Be sure to stir the dough well. I vigorously beat it with a spoon before adding more flour.
Then we will add another cup of flour and stir well.
Add another cup of flour along with the raisins. Stir well.
I added a bit more flour and stirred. Once the dough looks like this, I turned it onto the floured counter and began to knead.
I knead the dough just until it is no longer sticky, but just tacky. I add a bit of flour as needed. At the museum, I learned that if you poke your fingers in the dough and it springs back but leaves a slight dent, then the dough is ready. If it does not spring back, keep kneading. I thought that was an interesting trick!
Once done, I placed the dough back into the bowl that has been lightly greased. I also lightly oiled the dough. Then I looked at the dough and thought it might rise out of the bowl…
…so I switched bowls! I oiled the bowl and dough and placed the dough in my very large bowl! I covered it and placed it near the stove where it was warm. I let it rise for 1 hour 20 minutes.
The dough was beautiful! Light and airy. I lightly punched the dough down and cut it in half.
I shaped the dough into 2 loaves and placed it in my greased loaf pans. I covered it and let it rise for 35 minutes.
After 35 minutes, the bread looked like this. Preheat oven to 350F.
Bake at 350F for 45 to 55 minutes or until golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped. I always flip one loaf out to be sure the bottom is browned as well. These rose beautifully and baked so nice. They’re light, soft and fluffy.
I let the bread cool slightly in the pan for 15 minutes before removing to a cooling rack. I do not let the bread sit too long in the pan because as it cools, the bread tends to get wet from the steam not being able to escape.
Let cool completely before slicing. Slicing the bread while still warm will cause the bread to become gummy inside. This bread is amazing! It is soft and tender while fluffy. It is so good. We ate a lot of bread with butter. It is great toasted with butter or cinnamon honey and is fantastic as french toast too! This will be my go-to raisin bread now!
Our City Homestead’s version of Old Fashioned Raisin Bread from John Walter Museum
2 cups warm water
1 tbsp yeast
1 egg
1/3 cup oil
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
3/4 tbsp cinnamon
6 to 7 cups flour
1 cups raisins, soaked in warm water for 10 minutes, then drained
Combine water with yeast and 1 tsp sugar. Let stand 10 minutes. Add 3 cups of flour to bowl with cinnamon, salt, sugar, oil, egg, and the yeast mixture. Stir well. Add another cup of flour and stir well. Add 1 cup of flour and raisins that have been drained and dredged in a bit of flour. Stir well, adding more flour if needed. Once dough comes together, add extra flour as needed and knead until dough is not longer sticky, but just slightly tacky. Place in a greased bowl, cover and let rise 1-1/2 hours. Shape into loaves and place in greased loaf pans. This will make 2 standard loaves. Cover and let rise 30 minutes. Bake at 350F for 45 to 55 minutes or until golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from pan and let cool on cooling rack.
enjoy from Our City Homestead to yours