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 TO PURIFY YEAST FOR BREAD OR CAKES.

The yeast procured from a public brewery is often so extremely

bitter that it can only be rendered fit for use by frequent washings,
and after these even it should be cautiously employed. Mix it, when
first brought in, with a large quantity of cold water, and set it by until
the following morning in a cool place; then drain off the water, and
stir the yeast up well with as much more of fresh: it must again stand
several hours before the water can be poured clear from it. By
changing this daily in winter, and both night and morning in very hot
weather, the yeast may be preserved fit for use much longer than it
would otherwise be; and should it ferment rather less freely after a
time, a small portion of brown sugar and a little warm milk or other
liquid, stirred to it a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes before it is
required for bread-making, will restore its strength.
The German yeast, of which we have spoken in detail in another
part of this chapter, makes exceedingly light bread and buns, and is
never bitter; it is therefore a valuable substitute for our own beer-
yeast, but cannot be procured in all parts of the country, for the
reasons which we have stated.
 THE OVEN.

A brick oven, heated with wood, is far superior to any other for
baking bread, as well as for most other purposes. The iron ovens,
now commonly attached to kitchen-ranges—the construction of
which has within these few years been wonderfully improved—
though exceedingly convenient, from the facility which they afford for
baking at all hours of the day, do not in general answer well for
bread, unless it be made into very small loaves or rolls, as the
surface becomes hardened and browned long before the heat has
sufficiently penetrated to the centre of the dough. The same
objection often exists to iron-ovens of larger size, which require care
and management, to ensure the successful use of them. A brick
oven should be well heated with faggot wood, or with a faggot, and
two or three solid logs; and after it is cleared, the door should be
closely shut for quite half an hour before the baking commences: the
heat will then be well sustained for a succession of bread, pies,
cakes, and small pastry. The servant who habitually attends at an
oven will soon become acquainted with the precise quantity of fuel
which it requires, and all other peculiarities which may be connected
with it.
 A FEW RULES TO BE OBSERVED IN MAKING BREAD.

Never use too large a proportion of yeast, as the bread will not
only become dry very speedily when this is done, but it will be far
less sweet and pleasant in flavour than that which is more slowly
fermented, and the colour will not be so good: there will also be a
great chance of its being bitter when brewer’s yeast is used for it.
Remember that milk or water of scalding heat poured to any kind of
yeast will render the bread heavy. One pint of either added quite
boiling to a pint and a half of cold, will bring it to about the degree of
warmth required. In frosty weather the proportion of the heated liquid
may be increased a little.
When only porter-yeast—which is dark-coloured and bitter—can
be procured, use a much smaller proportion than usual, and allow
much longer time for it to rise. Never let it be sent to the oven until it
is evidently light. Bitter bread is unpalatable, but not really
unwholesome; but heavy bread is particularly so.
Let the leaven be kneaded up quickly with the remainder of the
flour when once it is well risen, as it should on no account be allowed
to sink again before this is done, when it has reached the proper
point; and in making the dough, be particularly careful not to render it
too lithe by adding more liquid than is requisite. It should be quite
firm, and entirely free from lumps and crumbs throughout the mass,
and on the surface also, which ought to be perfectly smooth.
In winter, place the bread while it is rising sufficiently close to the
fire to prevent its becoming cold, but never so near as to render it
hot. A warm thick cloth should be thrown over the pan in which it is
made immediately after the leaven is mixed, and kept on it until the
bread is ready for the oven.
 HOUSEHOLD BREAD.

Put half a bushel (more or less, according to the consumption of

the family) of flour into the kneading tub or trough, and hollow it well
in the middle; dilute a pint of yeast as it is brought from the brewery
or half the quantity if it has been washed and rendered solid, with
four quarts or more of lukewarm milk or water, or a mixture of the
two; stir into it, from the surrounding part, with a wooden spoon, as
much flour as will make a thick batter; throw a handful or two over it,
and leave this, which is called the leaven, to rise before proceeding
further. In about an hour it will have swollen considerably, and have
burst through the coating of flour on the top; then pour in as much
more warm liquid as will convert the whole, with good kneading, and
this should not be spared, into a firm dough, of which the surface
should be entirely free from lumps or crumbs. Throw a cloth over,
and let it remain until it has risen very much a second time, which will
be in an hour, or something more, if the batch be large. Then work it
lightly up, and mould it into loaves of from two to three pounds
weight; send them directly to a well heated oven, and bake them
from an hour and a half to an hour and three-quarters.
Flour, 1/2 bushel; salt (when it is liked), 4 to 6 oz.; yeast, 1 pint
unwashed, or 1/2 pint if purified; milk, or water, 2 quarts: 1 to 1-1/2
hour. Additional liquid as needed.
Obs.—Brown bread can be made exactly as above, either with
half meal and half flour mixed, or with meal only. This will absorb
more moisture than fine flour, and will retain it rather longer. Brown
bread should always be thoroughly baked.
Remark.—We have seen it very erroneously asserted in one or
two works, that bread made with milk speedily becomes sour. This is
never the case when it is properly baked and kept, and when the
milk used for it is perfectly sweet. The experience of many years,
enables us to speak positively on this point.
 BORDYKE BREAD.

(Author’s Receipt.)
Mix with a gallon of flour a large teaspoonful of fine salt, make a
hollow in the centre, and pour in two tablespoonsful of solid, well
purified yeast, gradually diluted with about two pints and a half of
milk, and work it into a thick batter with the surrounding flour, strew a
thick layer over and leave it to rise from an hour to an hour and a
half; then knead it up with as much more warm skimmed milk, or half
new milk and half water, as will render it quite firm and smooth
without being very stiff; let it rise another hour, and divide it into three
loaves; put them into square tins slightly buttered, or into round
baking pans, and bake them about an hour and a quarter in a well-
heated oven. The dough can be formed into household loaves if
preferred, and sent to the oven in the usual way. When a finer and
more spongy kind of bread is required for immediate eating,
substitute new milk for skimmed, dissolve in it about an ounce of
butter, leave it more liquid when the sponge is set, and let the whole
be lightly kneaded into a lithe dough: the bread thus made will be
excellent when new, and for a day or so after it is baked, but it will
become dry sooner than the other.
Flour, 1 gallon; salt, 1 teaspoonful; skimmed milk, 2-1/2 pints, to
rise from 1 to 1-1/2 hour. Additional milk, 1 to 2 pints: to rise 1 hour. 3
loaves, baked 1-1/4 hour.
Obs. 1.—A few spoonsful of cream will wonderfully improve either
of the above receipts, and sweet buttermilk, substituted for the other,
will give to the bread the shortness of a cake: we would particularly
recommend it for trial when it can be procured.
Obs. 2.—Shallow round earthen pans answer much better, we
think, than tins for baking bread; they should be slightly rubbed with
butter before the dough is put into them.
 GERMAN YEAST.

(And Bread made with German Yeast.)

This has very generally superseded the use of English beer-yeast
in London, and other places conveniently situated for receiving
quickly and regularly the supplies of it which are imported from
abroad; but as it speedily becomes putrid in sultry weather, and does
not in any season remain good long after its arrival here, it is
unsuited for transmission to remote parts of the country. Bread made
with it while it is perfectly sweet, is extremely light and good, and it
answers remarkably well for light cakes and biscuits. An ounce is the
proportion which we have always had used for a quartern (half a
gallon or three pounds and a half) of flour, and this, with the addition
of some salt and nearly a quart of milk, or milk and water, has
produced excellent bread when it has been made with care. The
yeast should be very gradually and perfectly moistened and blended
with the warm liquid; for unless this be done, and the whole rendered
smooth as cream, the dough will not be of the uniform texture which
it ought, but will be full of large hollow spaces, which are never seen
in well-made bread. The mass should be mixed up firmly and well
kneaded at once, then left to rise for about an hour; again kneaded
thoroughly, and again left to rise from three-quarters of an hour to an
hour; then divided, and lightly worked up into loaves, put into round
slightly buttered earthen pans, and sent immediately to the oven.
[187]
187. We give the proportions used and the exact manner of making this bread,
which we have had followed for more than twelve months, with entire
success.

A leaven may be first laid with the yeast, and part of the liquid
when it is preferred, as directed for bread made with beer-yeast, but
the result will be equally good if the whole be kneaded up at once, if
it be made quite firm.
 PROFESSOR LIEBIG’S BAVARIAN BROWN BREAD.

(Very nutritious and wholesome.)

Baron Liebig pronounces this bread to be very superior to that
which is made with fine flour solely, both in consequence of the
greater amount of nutriment which it contains, and from its slight
medicinal effect, which renders it valuable to many persons
accustomed to have frequent recourse to drugs, of which it
supersedes the necessity. It is made with the wheat exactly as it is
ground, no part being subtracted, nor any additional flour mingled
with it. He directs that the wheat should not be damped before it is
prepared: but few millers can be found who will depart from their
ordinary practice to oblige private customers; and this determined
adherence to established usage intervenes constantly between us,
and all improvement in our modes of preparing food. The bread is
made in the usual way, with water only, or with a portion of milk
added to the yeast, as taste or convenience may dictate. The loaves
should be well baked at all times; and the dough should of course be
perfectly light when it is placed in the oven. Salt should be mixed
with the meal before the yeast is added.
 ENGLISH BROWN BREAD.

This is often made with a portion only of the unbolted meal

recommended in the preceding receipt, mixed with more or less of
fine flour, according to the quality of bread required; and in many
families the coarse bran is always sifted from the meal, as an
impression exists that it is irritating to the stomach. If one gallon of
meal as it comes from the mill, be well mixed with an equal measure
of flour, and made into a dough in the manner directed for white
household bread, the loaves will still be sufficiently brown for the
general taste in this country, and they will be good and wholesome,
though not, perhaps, so entirely easy of digestion as Baron Liebig’s
Bavarian bread.
 UNFERMENTED BREAD.

This bread, in which carbonate of soda and muriatic acid are

substituted for yeast or other leaven, has within these few years
been highly recommended, and much eaten. It may possibly suit
many persons better than that which is fermented in the usual way,
but it is not in general by any means so pleasant in flavour; and there
is much more chance of failure in preparing it in private families, as it
requires some skill to mix the ingredients with exactness and
despatch; and it is absolutely necessary that the dough should be
set into the oven the instant it is ready. In some hydropathic and
other large establishments, where it is always supplied to the table in
lieu of the more common kinds, it is, we have been informed by
patients who had partaken of it there for many months together,
exceedingly and uniformly good. More detailed information with
regard to it, will be found in our “Cookery for Invalids,” a work for
which our want of space in the present volume compels us to
reserve it.
“For each pound of flour (or meal) take forty grains of
sesquicarbonate of soda, mix it intimately with the sugar and flour,
then add fifty drops of muriatic acid of the shops, diluted with half a
pint of water, or with as much as may be requisite to form the dough,
stirring it constantly into a smooth mass. Divide it into a couple of
loaves, and put them immediately into a quick oven.” Bake them
thoroughly.
Author’s note.—Dr. Pereira, from whose book on diet the
substance of the above receipt is taken, says that delicious bread
was made by it in his presence by the cook of Mr. John Savory, of
Bond Street, equal to any bread fermented by the usual process. We
would suggest that the soda, mixed with the sugar, and a small
portion of the flour, should be rubbed through a hair sieve with a
wooden spoon into the remainder of the flour, and stirred up with it
until the whole is perfectly mingled, before the liquid is added.
Should lighter bread be desired, the soda may be increased to fifty
or even sixty grains, if the quantity of acid be proportionately
augmented. As common salt is formed by the combination of these
two agents, none beside is needed in the bread.
Flour, 1 lb.; sesquicarbonate of soda, 40 grains; sugar, 1
teaspoonful; muriatic acid of the shops, 50 drops; water, 1/2 pint (or
as needed).
 POTATO BREAD.

One pound of good mealy potatoes, steamed or boiled very dry, in

the ordinary way, or prepared by Captain Kater’s receipt (see
Chapter XVII.), and rubbed quite hot, through a coarse sieve, into a
couple of pounds of flour, with which they should be well mixed, will
produce excellent bread, which will remain moist much longer than
wheaten bread made as usual. The yeast should be added
immediately after the potatoes. An ounce or two of butter, an egg
and some new milk, will convert this bread into superior rolls.
 DINNER OR BREAKFAST ROLLS.

Crumble down very small indeed, an ounce of butter into a couple

of pounds of the best flour, and mix with them a large saltspoonful of
salt. Put into a basin a dessertspoonful of solid, well-purified yeast,
and half a teaspoonful of pounded sugar; mix these with half a pint of
warm new milk; hollow the centre of the flour, pour in the yeast
gradually, stirring to it sufficient of the surrounding flour to make a
thick batter; strew more flour on the top, cover a thick double cloth
over the pan, and let it stand in a warm kitchen to rise. In winter it
must be placed within a few feet of the fire. In about an hour, should
the leaven have broken through the flour on the top, and have risen
considerably in height, mix one lightly-whisked egg, or the yolks of
two, with nearly half a pint more of quite warm new milk, and wet up
the mass into a very smooth dough. Cover it as before, and in from
half to three-quarters of an hour turn it on to a paste-board, and
divide it into twenty-four portions of equal size. Knead these up as
lightly as possible into small round, or olive-shaped rolls; make a
slight incision round them, and cut them once or twice across the
top, placing them as they are done on slightly floured baking sheets
an inch or two apart. Let them remain for fifteen or twenty minutes to
prove; then wash the tops with yolk of egg, mixed with a little milk,
and bake them in a rather brisk oven from ten to fifteen minutes.
Turn them upside down upon a dish to cool after they are taken from
the tins. An additional ounce of butter and another egg can be used
for these rolls when richer bread is liked; but it is so much less
wholesome than a more simple kind, that it is not to be
recommended. A cup of good cream would be an admirable
substitute for butter altogether, rendering the rolls exceedingly
delicate both in appearance and in flavour. The yeast used for them
should be stirred up with plenty of cold water the day before it is
wanted; and it will be found very thick indeed when it is poured off,
which should be gently done. Rather less than an ounce of good
fresh German yeast may be used for them instead of brewer’s yeast,
with advantage.
 GENEVA ROLLS, OR BUNS.

Break down into very small crumbs three ounces of butter with two
pounds of flour; add a little salt, and set the sponge with a large
tablespoonful of solid yeast, mixed with a pint of new milk, and a
tablespoonful or more of strong saffron water; let it rise for a full hour,
then stir to a couple of well-beaten eggs as much hot milk as will
render them lukewarm, and wet the rolls with them to a light, lithe
dough; leave it from half to three-quarters of an hour longer, mould it
into small rolls, brush them with beaten yolk of egg, and bake them
from twenty minutes to half an hour. The addition of six ounces of
good sugar, three of butter, half a pound or more of currants, the
grated rind of a large lemon, and a couple of ounces of candied
orange-rind, will convert these into excellent buns. When the flavour
of the saffron is not liked, omit it altogether. Only so much should be
used at any time as will give a rich colour to the bread.
Flour, 2 lbs.; butter, 3 oz.; solid yeast, 1 large tablespoonful
(saffron, 1 teaspoonful; water, less than a quarter pint); new milk, 1
pint: 1 hour, or more. 2 eggs, more milk: 3/4 hour: baked 20 to 30
minutes.
 RUSKS.

Work quite into crumbs six ounces of butter with a couple of

pounds of fine dry flour, and mix them into a lithe paste, with two
tablespoonsful of mild beer yeast, three well-beaten eggs, and nearly
half a pint of warm new milk. When it has risen to its full height
knead it smooth, and make it into very small loaves or thick cakes
cut with a round cake-cutter; place them on a floured tin, and let
them stand in a warm place to prove from ten to twenty minutes
before they are set into the oven. Bake them about a quarter of an
hour; divide them while they are still warm, and put them into a very
slow oven to dry. When they are crisp quite through they are done.
Four teaspoonsful of sifted sugar must be added when sweet-rusks
are preferred.
Flour, 2 lbs.; butter, 6 oz.; yeast, 2 tablespoonsful; eggs, 3; new
milk nearly half a pint: baked 1/4 hour.
For either of the preceding receipts substitute rather more than an
ounce of German yeast, when it can be procured quite fresh; or
should an ounce of it only be used (which we should consider an
ample proportion), let the dough—especially that of the rusks—
become extremely light before it is kneaded down, and also
previously to its being sent to the oven. A somewhat smaller quantity
of yeast is required in warm weather than in cold.

[Remark.—The remainder of this chapter is extracted from a little

treatise on domestic bread-making, which we hope shortly to lay
before the public, as it appears to us to be greatly needed; but, as
we have already more than once repeated, we are unwilling to
withhold from the present volume any information which may be
generally useful.]
 EXCELLENT DAIRY-BREAD MADE WITHOUT YEAST.

(Author’s Receipt.)
When we first heard unfermented bread vaguely spoken of, we
had it tried very successfully in the following manner; and we have
since been told that an almost similar method of preparing it is
common in many remote parts both of England and Ireland, where it
is almost impossible to procure a constant supply of yeast. Blend
well together a teaspoonful of pounded sugar and fifty grains of the
purest carbonate of soda; mix a saltspoonful of salt with a pound of
flour, and rub the soda and sugar through a hair-sieve into it. Stir and
mingle them well, and make them quickly into a firm but not hard
dough with sour buttermilk. Bake the loaf well in a thoroughly heated,
but not fierce oven. In a brick, or good iron oven a few minutes less
than an hour would be sufficient to bake a loaf of similar weight. The
buttermilk should be kept until it is quite acid, but it must never be in
the slightest degree rancid, or otherwise bad. All unfermented bread
should be placed in the oven directly it is made, or it will be heavy.
For a larger baking allow rather less than an ounce of soda to the
gallon (seven pounds) of flour.
Obs.—There are cases in which a knowledge of this, or of any
other equally easy mode of bread-making would be invaluable. For
example:—We learn from the wife of an officer who has for a long
time been stationed off the Isle of Skye, in which his family have their
abode, that the inhabitants depend entirely for bread on supplies
brought to them from Glasgow; and that they are often entirely
without, when the steamer which ought to arrive at intervals of eight
days, is delayed by stress of weather. The residents are then
compelled to have recourse to scones—as a mixture of flour and
water and a little soda (cooked on a flat iron plate), are called—or to
ship’s biscuit; and these are often found unsuitable for young
children and invalids. There are no ovens in the houses, though
there are grates for coal fires, in front of which small loaves of
unfermented bread could be baked extremely well in good American
ovens. Buttermilk can always be procured; and if not, a provision of
carbonate of soda and muriatic acid might be kept at hand to ensure
the means of making wholesome bread. In many other localities the
same plan might prove of equal benefit.
 TO KEEP BREAD.

Bread requires almost as much care as milk to preserve it

wholesome and fresh. It should be laid, as soon as it is perfectly
cold, into a large earthen pan with a cover, which should be kept free
from crumbs, and be frequently scalded, and then wiped very dry for
use. Loaves which have been cut should have a smaller pan
appropriated to them, and this also should have the loose crumbs
wiped from it daily. It is a good plan to raise the bread-pans from the
floor of the larder, when there is no proper stand or frame for the
purpose, by means of two flat wedges of wood, so as to allow a
current of air to pass under them.
 TO FRESHEN STALE BREAD (AND PASTRY, ETC.), AND
PRESERVE IT FROM MOULD.

If entire loaves be placed in a gentle oven and heated quite

through, without being previously dipped into cold water, according
to the old-fashioned plan, they will eat almost like bread newly
baked: they should not remain in it long enough to become hard and
dry, but they should be made hot throughout. In very damp localities,
when large household bakings take place but once in eight or ten
days, it is sometimes necessary to use precautions against the
attack of mould, though the bread may have been exceedingly well
made; and the method recommended above will be the best for
warding it off, and for preserving the bread eatable for several days
longer than it would otherwise be. If large loaves be just dipped into
cold water and then placed in a quick oven until they are again
thoroughly dried, they will resemble new bread altogether.
Pastry, cakes, and biscuits, may all be greatly improved when
stale, by heating them in a gentle oven.
 TO KNOW WHEN BREAD IS SUFFICIENTLY BAKED.

When the surface is uniformly browned, and it is everywhere firm

to the touch, and the bottom crust of a loaf is hard, it is generally
certain that it is thoroughly baked. To test bread that has been cut (or
yeast-cakes), press down the crumb lightly in the centre with the
thumb; when it is elastic and rises again to its place, it is proof that it
is perfectly done; but if the indentation remains, the heat has not
sufficiently penetrated the dough to convert it into wholesome eating.
 ON THE PROPER FERMENTATION OF DOUGH.

As we have previously said, too large a proportion of yeast, which

is very commonly used by persons not well skilled in bread-making,
although it produces quickly a light spongy dough, has a very bad
effect on bread, which it renders much less easy of digestion than
that which is more slowly fermented, and far less sweet and pleasant
in flavour: it also prevents its remaining eatable the same length of
time, as it speedily becomes dry. It is likewise very disadvantageous
to make the dough so lithe that it spreads about in the oven; and if it
be excessively stiff, and its management not thoroughly understood,
it will sometimes be heavy,. To prevent this, it should be kept quite
warm (never heated), and left a much longer time to rise. It will
frequently then prove excellent. It will ferment rather more quickly if,
when it gives symptoms of becoming light it is made up into loaves
with the least possible kneading, and a slight incision is made round
them and across the tops, and they are then placed in a warm air,
and kept secure from cold currents passing over them.