Warne's model cookery and housekeeping book : containing complete instructions in household management / compiled and edited by Mary Jewry.
42/177

will make the bread or cakes for which, it is ! used heavy. It is safest to put the quantity of Hour you are about to make into bread before the fire in a large dish or ]ian for an hour or two. in order to have it warm and dry.for use. Great cleanliness is required for mailing bread—a clean trough or brown earthenware pan : very clean hands and arms, and nice fresh yeast. The fresher the yeast the less you will require of it. Never leave the dough half made, nor allow it to get cold before it is finished ; if you do, it will be heavy. Too small a pro- portion of yeast will make the dough heavy. If the sponge or the dough be permitted to overwork itself it will become sour in warm weather. Do not put it too near the fire, but keep it warm at a gentle and equal degree of heat. Bread baked in tins will be lighter than when made into ordinary loaves, and is best for toast or sandwiches. Too little water will spoil the bread ; too much will make it too slack. If by acci- • dent the latter fault is perceptible, make the bread up in tins, and it will not much matter. The proportions given in the receipts ' contained in this book may of course be modified according to the quantity of bread : required. The Ingleby Receipt for Yeast. ’ Time, twenty minutes to boil; twelve hours to ferment. 9. Two ounces of hops ; four quarts of • water; two and a half or three pounds of I flour ; sixorseven boiled potatoes ; one pint ' of ale yeast. Boil the hops in four quarts of water for ■ twenty minutes ; strain the water tl rough a ! hair sieve upon two and a half or three pounds of flour—it will seem lumpy, but i that is of no consequence; .stir it occasionally, and bruise it with a wooden spoon ; let it • stand till cool, and then keep it in the air of the fire all night. The next day fill a glass bottle with it ; then add six or seven ; boiled potatoes, bruised, and a pint of ale : yeast to it ; stir it well up, and let it stand : till next day ; then bottle it for use, rcniem- . bering to take a pint out before you put the ; potatoes and the harming in. To Knead Bread. 10. After the dough is mixed flour the ' hands, and, folding the fingers over the ■ thumb, make what is called a fist, and beat and pummoi the dough first with one hand and then the other on every side ; work it ithus till it ceases to stick to^our hands. ! Much kneading makes bread whiter and finer; bread can, indeed, scarcely be kneaded too much. To Make Bread. Time, one hour to bake loaves of two pounds weight each. 11. Seven pounds of flour ; two quarts of warm water ; a large tablespoonful of salt; half a gill of yeast. Put the flour into a deep pan, heap it round the sides, leaving a hollow in the centre ; put into it a quart of warm water, a large spoonful of salt, and half a gill of yeast ; have ready three pints more of warm water, and with as much of it as may ba necessary make the whole into a rather soft dough, kneading it well with both hands. When it is smooth and shining, strew a little flour on it ; lay a thickly folded cloth over it, and set it in a warm place by the fire for four or five hours ; then knead it again for a quarter of an hour ; cover it over, and set it to rise again ; divide it into two or four loaves, and bake in a quick oven. It will take one hour to bake it if divided into loaves weighing two pounds each, and two hours if the loaves weigh four pounds each. This bread need only rise once, and if made of the best superfine flour will be beautifully white and light. In cold weather bread should be mixed in a warm room, and not allowed to become cold while rising. If there is any difficulty as to its rising, set the bowl or pan over boiling water. It is best to mix the bread at night, and cover it close, in a warm room should the weather be cold, till the morning. Of course, if the family be large, the quantities may be increased or doubled in proportion. Another Mode, with Milk. Time, one and a half to two hours. 12. One quartern of flour ; two teas{>oon' fuls of salt ; four tablespoonfuls of yeast, one pint and a half of milk. Put a quartern of flour into a large basin with two teaspoonfuls of salt ; make a hole in the middle, and then put in a basin four tablespoonfuls of yeast; stir in it a pint ot milk lukewarm ; put it in the hole ol the flour : stir it to make it just a thin batlei. then strew a little flour over the top ; set it on one side of the fire, and cover it over. Let it stand till next morning, then make it into dough ; add h.alf a pint more of warm milk, knead it for ten minutes, and set it in a warm place for one hour and a half; then knead it again, and it is ready either for loaves or bricks. Bake them from one hour n