Enjoy fresh-baked bread and watch the 18th-century baking process with Resident Baker Justin Cherry of Half Crown Bakehouse.

Each loaf is baked in a reproduction 18th-century clay oven and made of grains that are authentic to the time period, and, when possible, were ground at George Washington's Gristmill.

Bread-making can be seen from 9 a.m. through 11:30 a.m. Bread is available for purchase from 11:30 a.m. until it is sold out. Quantities are limited.

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Add to Calendar 02/03/2022 09:00:00 02/03/2022 12:00:00 America/New_York Fresh Bread from Half Crown Bakehouse

Enjoy fresh-baked bread and watch the 18th-century baking process with Resident Baker Justin Cherry of Half Crown Bakehouse.

Each loaf is baked in a reproduction 18th-century clay oven and made of grains that are authentic to the time period, and, when possible, were ground at George Washington's Gristmill.

Bread-making can be seen from 9 a.m. through 11:30 a.m. Bread is available for purchase from 11:30 a.m. until it is sold out. Quantities are limited.

Buy Tickets

Become a Member for Free Admission

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Methods of Payment

Cash, Credit Cards, and Venmo accepted

Menu for Feb. 20

The General's Plate — $15
Bread with salt pork butter, clothbound cheddar, and smokehouse bacon

Single Slice — $8
A warm piece of "midling bread" with salt pork butter

 

"Midling flour" was a coarse, middle-grade flour that sometimes matched the price of common flour but was only a step above Ship Stuff. In 1773, George Washington wrote in a letter that midling flour, "in my opinion, makes better bread than common Flour.” 

Menu

Loaf of Midling Bread $14
Loaf of Midling Bread and Cheese $25
Salt Pork Butter $6

Quantities are limited.

Loaf of Midling Bread

In 1773, George Washington writes in a Letter to Lamar, Hill, Bisset, and Company: ”I expect you will likewise, from Mr. Newton of Norfolk, receive Ninety Barrls of Burr Midlings belonging to me, which in my opinion makes better Bread than common Flour.” 

Midling flour was a coarse middle-grade flour that sometimes matched the price of common flour but was only a step above ship stuff.

A Loaf of Midling Bread and Cheese

Included is a proper portion of clothbound cheese, in the style of English cheddars of old but made in an American creamery.

Menu

Loaf of Brown Bread $14
Package of Ginger Bread $6
Loaf of Bread and Cheese $25
Salt Pork Butter $6

Quantities are limited.

Loaf of Brown Bread

Sometimes referred to as “Thirded Bread,” this loaf is made up of wheat, corn, and rye—in equal thirded parts—with the addition of molasses.

In 1786, George Washington included 1¼ pounds of Brown Bread as part of a daily ration for Ditchers working in the Mill Swamp.

This loaf contains Black Seashore Rye, one of the
oldest varieties still cultivated in the United States of America.

A Package of Ginger Bread

At Morristown 1780, a receipt was signed by Christopher Ludwick—Superintendent of Bakers and Director of the Baking Department for the Continental Army—that included nine pounds of butter, milk, allspice, caraway seed, and ginger.  The gingerbread was for Washington himself.

A Loaf of Bread and Cheese

A loaf of bread and a proper portion of clothbound cheese, made in the truckle style of English cheddars of old but made in an American creamery.

Resident Baker, Justin Cherry

Culinarian historian Justin Cherry is Mount Vernon's Resident Baker and is the chef and owner of the Half Crown Bakehouse, which specializes in colonial foodways.

Cherry was a 2019 Fellow at the Washington Library. His research focused on the 18th-century foodways culture at Mount Vernon. 

Heritage Grain, Ground by Water Power

Cherry uses grains ground in Mount Vernon's gristmill whenever possible.

The first white Lammas wheat ground at the Gristmill since Washington’s day was baked in Cherry’s mobile 18th-century clay oven and sold at Revolutionary War Weekend in May 2019.

Cherry continues to facilitate collaboration between heirloom grain specialists and Mount Vernon’s Historic Trades Team.

18th Century Clay Oven

In March 2020, Cherry and the Historic Trades Team installed a bake oven in Washington’s Farm. Bake ovens, also known as beehive, masonry, brick, pizza, or bread ovens, were a staple in early America.

These thick clay domes were built into kitchens next to the hearth, like the original oven in the Mansion’s Kitchen, or built outdoors. The design of Mount Vernon’s reproduction oven resembles those used throughout the Chesapeake region.

Evidence of ovens like this has not been found at Mount Vernon, but similar ovens may have existed around the estate.

Face Coverings

Face Coverings

Face masks are recommended indoors for all persons, vaccinated or unvaccinated.

Face masks are required for all unvaccinated guests.

George Washington's Gristmill

George Washington constructed a gristmill at his Dogue Run Farm in 1770-1771. In 1791, Washington upgraded his operation, installing a new automated method—the Evans system—that replaced manual labor with mechanical means through all the steps in the milling process.

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