A Vintage Recipe by Kelli Huggins

You’ve probably heard of the Catskill Mountain House, the grand hotel which opened in 1824 and overlooked the Hudson River. Despite being gone for decades, it still holds a powerful place in local history and imagination. Some people scour the market for the highly-collectable images and artifacts from the Mountain House. Maybe you’ve even taken a hike to the former site. But have you ever thought of taking a taste of its history?

I stumbled across a recipe for Catskill Mountain House rolls in the February 1890 edition of Hall’s Journal of Health, a 19th century wellness publication. Intrigued, I found that the recipe made the rounds in national publications beginning in late in 1889. While I’ve not been able to verify if the recipe is authentic, menus from the Catskill Mountain House, like those digitized by the New York Public Library, show a variety of rolls and bread options. Regardless of its actual connection to the hotel, the way the recipe spread does highlight people’s desire to experience a piece of an elite Catskill’s experience.

The original recipe is pretty bare bones:
Set a thin sponge with wheat flour at about four o’clock as follows: Stir into a quart of water flour enough to make a thick batter, adding half a cake of compressed yeast dissolved. Let this sponge stand till nine o’clock and then knead up thoroughly; add a piece of butter the size of a large egg. Let the rolls stand till morning, then roll them out as thin as your hands, handle the dough as little as possible, cut it into narrow strips and lay in a pan to rise for three-quarters of an hour. Bake in a quick oven ten minutes. 

This left me with a few questions: How much flour? Can you even get cake yeast now? (yes, but it’s rare!)  How long are these “narrow strips”? After some tinkering, I figured it out with modern measurements and ingredients.

Recipe

First, make the sponge. If you haven’t made bread with a sponge before, this method adds fermentation time and gives the bread a tangy taste and a nice structure.

For the sponge, combine the following in a large bowl:

2 cups of water (about 95-100 degrees, warm but not hot enough to kill the yeast)

3 cups of flour (white or wheat, I tried both and either works)

2 1/4 tsp quick rise yeast OR 2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast (I tried both and preferred the results of the active dry, but if you have quick rise on hand, you can use that. I did not track down cake yeast for this.)

Mix well and let sit covered at room temperature in a draft-free location for 5 hours. The mix should get all bubbly, puffy, and sticky. Resist the urge to touch it until the time is up.

When the sponge is ready, add:

3 Tbsp softened butter

2 tsp salt 

2 1/2- 3 cups flour (if using wheat flour, you will probably need less because it absorbs the liquid more. Add in a little at a time to not use too much.)

Knead the dough for ten minutes until soft and stretchy. A little extra flour might be necessary for kneading, but not much. Lightly grease a large bowl and add the dough ball. Cover and let stand. The original recipe calls for it to sit overnight, but I found that unnecessary. Mine sat for about 3 hours. 

Once the dough doubles in size, punch it down and shape the individual rolls. The original recipe is pretty confusing about the shape, but I interpreted it as a short breadstick, batch baked. I also made some in knots and round dinner rolls, so go ahead and try your favorite roll shapes. It should make about two dozen rolls. 

Let the shaped dough rise for another 45 minutes. Bake on a greased pan at 425 degrees for about 10-12 minutes or until they are golden brown.

This recipe involves a lot of waiting time, but not much actual work time. I tested this recipe with different flours and yeasts and found it to give pretty reliable results even with different variables, so even if you’re new to bread, give it a try. These rolls would be great on your dinner table or for carbo-loading before a big hike.