Sally Lunn of Bath, the spa town's brioche
A large, light, airy brioche with a stringy crumb, split and spread with fresh butter, served warm: the comforting sweetness of fashionable spa towns.
A large, light, airy brioche with a stringy crumb, split and spread with fresh butter, served warm: the comforting sweetness of fashionable spa towns.
When the doctors send me to Bath to take the waters and relieve my poor legs, I find there a comfort sweeter than all their science: a bread light as a cloud, broken still warm and covered with good fresh butter until it melts. Its crumb pulls and shreds, blond and tender. Believe me, after the bitter waters, such sweetness makes many ills pass, and I could eat it endlessly.
- •Fine wheat flour — as needed (base)
- •Beer barm (brewer's yeast) — a little (leavening)
- •Warm cream and milk — to discretion (softness)
- •Fresh butter — generously (richness)
- •Eggs — a few (binder and lightness)
- •Sugar — a little (sweetness)
Sally Lunn of Bath, the spa town's brioche
A large, light, airy brioche with a stringy crumb, split and spread with fresh butter, served warm: the comforting sweetness of fashionable spa towns.
Why this dish? Anne went to Bath to take the waters and relieve her fragile health. This spa town was famous for its soft brioche-like breads, such as the famous Sally Lunn, enjoyed warm and buttered in the salons of the resort—a refined snack of aristocratic cures.
When the doctors send me to Bath to take the waters and relieve my poor legs, I find there a comfort sweeter than all their science: a bread light as a cloud, broken still warm and covered with good fresh butter until it melts. Its crumb pulls and shreds, blond and tender. Believe me, after the bitter waters, such sweetness makes many ills pass, and I could eat it endlessly.
Ingredients (period version)
- Fine wheat flour — as needed (base)
- Beer barm (brewer's yeast) — a little (leavening)
- Warm cream and milk — to discretion (softness)
- Fresh butter — generously (richness)
- Eggs — a few (binder and lightness)
- Sugar — a little (sweetness)
Ingredients
- All-purpose flour (T45) — 500 g (base)
- Fresh baker's yeast — 15 g (leavening)
- Warm milk — 200 ml (hydration)
- Heavy cream — 100 ml (softness)
- Melted butter — 80 g + extra for serving (richness)
- Eggs — 2 (binder and lightness)
- Sugar — 40 g (sweetness)
- Salt — 1 tsp (seasoning)
Method
- Dissolve the yeast in warm milk with a pinch of sugar; let it foam for 10 minutes.
- Mix flour, sugar, and salt, then incorporate beaten eggs, cream, melted butter, and the yeast mixture.
- Work into a soft, sticky dough, cover, and let double in volume (about 1.5 hours).
- Pour into a buttered round mold (or large individual forms) and let rise again for 45 minutes.
- Bake at 190 °C for 25–30 minutes until the top is golden.
- Serve warm, split in half and generously spread with fresh butter.
How it was made : The brioche breads of spa towns were leavened with barm, the foam from beer fermentation, in the absence of dry yeast. They were baked in the morning and brought warm to the cure salons. Legend attributes the Sally Lunn to a baker's wife in Bath in the 17th century; its exact period recipe remains uncertain, hence a degree of evocation.
The contemporary twist : Serve it split with a knob of salted butter and a cloud of cream, an unabashed 'afternoon tea' version—a nod to the queen's passion for tea.
Sources : Mary Kettilby, A Collection of above Three Hundred Receipts (1714) · Elizabeth David, English Bread and Yeast Cookery (1977)
Anne of Great Britain · Charactorium