PERFECT bread will be light and sweet, and with a rich, nutty flavor of the wheat. To get this result good yeast and flour must be used; the dough, while rising, must be kept at a proper temperature, about 75° F., and the heat of the oven, when baking the dough, must be high enough to raise the inside of the loaf to about 220° F. This is necessary to cook the starch, expand the carbonic acid gas, air, and steam, and drive off the alcohol.

A good way to test the heat is to put in a piece of white paper. If it turn a dark brown in five minutes, the oven will be of the right temperature; but if it burn, the oven will be too hot, and must be cooled a little before the loaf is put in; or if the paper be only a light brown at the end of the five minutes, the oven must be made hotter.

When the bread is baked it should be cooled in such a way that the pure air shall circulate freely around it. The best way is to put the loaf across the pan, or to let it lean against the pan, having it rest on its edge. In this way the gases, alcohol, and steam pass off, making the loaf much sweeter and crisper than when it is wrapped in a cloth. The loaf should be perfectly cold before being put in the bread box.

When you are baking bread the heat should be greatest when the loaf is first put in the oven; then, after cooking for twenty-five minutes, the heat should be reduced a little. White bread made with water should get the greater part of its browning the first half-hour. If made with milk it will brown in twenty minutes; but it must be remembered that being brown does not mean that the bread is baked.

A piece of woollen blanket is of great value in making bread. Wrap it around the bowl in which the dough is rising, and it will keep the temperature even. Nothing is more injurious than chilling the dough before it is risen. It does not hurt it after it is well risen.

Bread can be made with either milk or water; simply substitute milk where water is called for. The milk should first be boiled and cooled.

Hop Yeast.

Put a tablespoonful of hops in one quart of cold water and place on the fire. Now pare and grate into a tin pan three large uncooked potatoes. When the hops and water begin to boil, strain the boiling water on the grated potatoes. Place the pan with the potatoes and hop-water on the stove, and stir until the mixture boils up. Take from the fire, and add one tablespoonful of salt and two of granulated sugar. Let this mixture stand until it is blood warm; then add half a cupful of liquid yeast, or half a cake of compressed yeast dissolved in one fourth of a cupful of water. Pour the mixture into a large earthen bowl which has been thoroughly heated. Cover, and set in a warm place for six hours. In that time the yeast should be so well risen that it is foamy all through. Now pour this into a stone jar, or into two preserve jars (the jars should be not more than half full), and put in a cold place, but not where the yeast will freeze. This yeast will keep three or four weeks. Made in this way it is called liquid yeast.

Liquid, compressed, or dry yeast, if sweet and good, will all make excellent bread. In very hot countries the dry yeast is by far the best, unless one have an ice chest to keep the liquid yeast in. As the method of making bread with the dry yeast is different from that of making with liquid yeast, a separate rule may be valuable.

For three Loaves.

For three small loaves there will be required two quarts of flour, one pint and a gill of blood-warm water, one yeast cake, one tablespoonful of sugar, two tablespoonfuls of butter or lard, and one teaspoonful of salt.

Sift the flour in the bread pan. Break up the yeast cake and put it in a quart bowl; then add a gill of the water, and mash with a spoon until the yeast and water are well mixed. Beat in one gill of the flour. Cover the bowl and set in a warm place for two hours. At the end of that time the batter should be a perfect sponge. Add to the sponge the pint of warm water, half the butter or lard, and the salt and sugar. Stir this mixture into the flour and mix well with a spoon. Sprinkle the moulding board thickly with flour, and, turning the dough upon it, knead for twenty minutes, using as little flour as possible. At the end of this time the ball of dough should be soft, smooth, and elastic. Place the dough in the bowl and rub the second spoonful of butter or lard over it. Cover with a clean towel and then with a tin or wood cover. Set the bowl in a warm place and let it rise over night. In the morning the dough will have increased to three times its original volume, and will be a perfect sponge. Knead it in the bowl for five minutes—do not use flour—and then shape into three small loaves. Put these in deep pans, and with a sharp knife cut lengthwise through the centre of each loaf. Put the pans in a warm place and cover with clean towels. Let the loaves rise to twice their size, and then bake in a moderately hot oven for fifty minutes.

Sift the flour into the bread bowl. Take out half a cupful to use in kneading. Put the salt, sugar, and half the butter in the flour. Dissolve the yeast and mix with the flour. Beat well with a strong spoon.

Sprinkle flour on the board and knead the dough for twenty minutes or half an hour. Return to the bowl, and rub the remainder of the butter or lard over it. Cover with a clean towel; then put a tin or wooden cover on the bowl and raise and finish as directed in the rule for bread made with dry yeast. This will make two small loaves or one large one.

Potato Bread.

Cover the potato with boiling water and cook for thirty minutes. Take it up and mash fine and light; then pour the boiling water on it. Let this stand until it is blood-warm; then beat into it the yeast, sugar, and a pint and a half of flour. Beat well for ten minutes; then cover the dough and set it in a warm place to rise. It will take between four and five hours. When the dough has risen to a light sponge, add the salt and butter or lard to it, and beat well.

Sprinkle the board with flour, turn the dough out on it and knead for fifteen or twenty minutes. Return the dough to the bowl; cover, and set in a warm place to rise. When it has risen to more than double the original size, shape it into two small loaves, or a loaf of medium size and a small pan of rolls. Cover the bread with a clean towel and raise to double the original size.

If all the dough be put into one loaf, it must be baked for one hour; if two small loaves be made, bake them for forty-five minutes. This is delicious bread. Milk may be substituted for water.

Entire-wheat Bread.

Sift the flour into the mixing bowl, but take out a gill to use in kneading. Dissolve the yeast in the water. Mix the salt, sugar, and butter with the flour, and stir in the yeast and water. Beat well; then knead for twenty minutes or half an hour. Cover, and set to rise. Finish the same as water bread.

This bread must be mixed as soft as possible and should be baked thoroughly. Bake a loaf of medium size one hour and a quarter.

Graham Bread.

Sift the meal and flour into the mixing bowl, turning in the bran also. Dissolve the yeast in the water, and add the salt and molasses to it. Turn this mixture out on the flour, and beat the dough vigorously for twenty minutes or longer. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise over night. In the morning wet the hand in cold water and beat the dough for five or ten minutes; then shape, and put in a well buttered pan. Let it rise to nearly double the original size, and bake for an hour and a half, having the oven quite hot the first half-hour, and very moderate the last hour.

Success in making this bread depends upon the thorough beating and baking. Flours vary so much that it is impossible to give the exact amount of liquid, but the dough should be as thick as you can mix and beat it with the hand. It must, however, never be kneaded stiff, like bread made with white flour.

Rye Bread.

Substitute rye meal for graham, and proceed exactly as directed for graham bread.

Rye Bread, No. 2.

Make this bread as directed for entire-wheat bread, substituting fine rye flour for the entire-wheat flour.

Boston Brown Bread.

Sift all the meal into a bowl. Put the milk, molasses, and salt into a bowl. Dissolve the soda in the cold water and add to the liquid ingredients. Stir this into the meal and beat vigorously for five minutes or more; then put into a well buttered brown-bread tin and steam for five hours; or the batter may be put into three one-pound baking-powder cans. They will steam in less time than if in the large loaf. Whatever sort of tin the loaf be steamed in, it must have a cover. It will do no harm to cook this bread more than five hours, but if in the large loaf it must not cook less. Graham meal may be substituted for the rye.

Sift the meal and flour into the mixing bowl, and add the salt. Mix the milk and molasses together. Dissolve the soda in the water and stir into the milk and molasses. Add this to the flour and meal, and beat well. Now add the butter, melted, and turn the batter into a well buttered bread pan. Cover the pan and place in the steamer. Cook for four hours and a half. Take the pan from the steamer, and cook in a moderate oven for half an hour longer.

This bread is delicious served hot from the oven, or toasted and buttered, or toasted and served with hot cream poured over it.

Pulled Bread.

Tear the crust from a part of a loaf of baker’s bread. Now tear the crumb of the loaf into long, thin pieces. Spread the torn bread in a pan and put in a hot oven to become brown and crisp. It will take about fifteen minutes. Serve hot with cheese. Pulled bread is also nice with chocolate or coffee.

Rolls from Bread Dough.

It is almost impossible to shape and raise rolls for an early breakfast, but if one have a cold room or a refrigerator the rolls can be put in the pan the night before, and they will then be ready to bake for breakfast. Reserve about a pint and a half of the risen bread dough and work into it a tablespoonful of butter or lard. Put the dough in a bowl; cover it with a plate and place the bowl in the refrigerator or in a cold room. In the evening shape the dough into rolls and rub a little soft butter over them. Cover the pan closely, but leave ample room for the rolls to rise; then put in the refrigerator or cold room. Bake in the morning in a moderately hot oven for half an hour.

Sponge Rolls.

Sift the flour into a bowl; then add the salt and sugar. Melt the butter in the warm water (be sure it is not above 100°), and add the yeast. Put this mixture with the flour, and beat thoroughly with a strong spoon. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise over night. In the morning butter a French-roll pan and half fill each compartment with the sponge, being careful not to break it down unnecessarily. Let the rolls rise for an hour and bake them in a moderately hot oven for half an hour.

Parker House Rolls.

Boil the milk, and let it cool. Sift the flour into the mixing bowl. Mix the salt and sugar with the flour. Make a hole in the middle of the flour, by drawing it back to the sides of the pan. Pour the milk very gently into this place, being careful not to wet the flour above the point where the milk will come when it is all poured in. Now add the dissolved yeast, stirring gently at the bottom of the pan. Cover the bowl and set in a warm place for four hours; then stir the mixture until a dough is formed. Add the butter or lard, and knead on the board for twenty minutes. Do not use any flour in kneading. Put the dough back in the bowl; cover, and set in a warm place to rise to nearly three times the original size (it will take about three hours for this). Next put the dough on the board and roll down to the thickness of half an inch. Cut the dough with an oval cutter. Place a small round stick on the roll, about one third of the distance from the end. Press with the stick until the dough is half as thick here as in other parts. Fold the short end of the dough over, and the roll will be shaped. A little soft butter may be placed between the folds. Place the rolls in a buttered pan, having them a little way apart. Cover, and set in rather a cool place—say seventy degrees—until the rolls are risen to a little more than double the original size. Bake them in a moderately hot oven for twenty minutes.

Caution. Do not use any flour in kneading the dough, and when it has risen put no flour on the board when it is to be rolled out. The risen dough must not be kneaded, merely turned on the board and rolled thin. If the rolls be required for luncheon begin them at half past seven or eight o’clock in the morning, and double the amount of yeast. The raising time will then be only half that given. This dough can be used for luncheon rolls and pin wheels.

Milk Rolls.

Boil the milk, and add the butter, sugar, and salt to it. Let the mixture stand until it becomes blood-warm; then add the yeast. Pour this new mixture on the flour, and beat well with a strong spoon; then knead on the board for twenty minutes. Return the dough to the bowl, and cover closely,—first with a towel, then with a tin or wooden cover. Set in a warm place over night. In the morning shape in either long or cleft rolls, and let these rise in the pans for an hour and a quarter, or until they have doubled in size. Bake in a moderately hot oven for half an hour, if the rolls be placed close together; but if they be detached, as would be the case with cleft rolls, bake for only fifteen or twenty minutes.

Luncheon Rolls.

Make the dough for milk rolls. In the morning work it well in the bowl; then sprinkle the board lightly with flour, and roll the dough down to the thickness of a quarter of an inch. Spread this with soft butter and roll up as for a jelly roll. Cut from this slices about an inch thick, and set them on end in a buttered baking-pan. Have the rolls a little way apart and let them rise to double the original size. Bake them in a moderately hot oven for twenty-five minutes.

Baking Powder Biscuit.

Mix thoroughly in a sieve the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder, and then rub through the sieve. Rub the butter and lard into this mixture. Have the oven very hot, the pans buttered, the board, cutter, and rolling pin ready. Now add the milk to the mixture, stirring quickly and vigorously with a strong spoon. Sprinkle the board with flour and turn out the dough upon it. Roll down to the thickness of about half an inch and cut with a small cutter. Bake in a quick oven. Do not crowd the biscuit in the pan. If they be cut small, and the oven be very hot, they will bake in ten or twelve minutes. They should not stand in the oven after they are done.

It is impossible to give in this receipt the exact quantity of milk to use, flour varies so much; but the dough should be mixed as soft as it is possible to handle.

Quick Luncheon Rolls.

Follow the rule for baking powder biscuit; then roll the dough thin, spread it with soft butter and roll up like jelly roll. Cut the roll into slices about three quarters of an inch thick and set them on end in a baking-pan, having them a little way apart. Bake them in a quick oven for about fifteen minutes.

Pin Wheels.

Make the dough for milk rolls, and when it has risen, roll it as thin as possible. Spread it with soft butter and sprinkle over this half a cupful of sugar and one tablespoonful of cinnamon mixed together. Roll up like a jelly roll and cut into slices about half an inch thick. Place these slices in a well buttered pan and let them rise to double the original size. Bake in a moderately hot oven for twenty-five minutes.

If you prefer, a baking powder biscuit dough may be used and the pin wheels be baked in a quick oven for fifteen minutes.

Crumpets.

Put the flour, salt, and sugar in a bowl. Add the water and yeast, and beat vigorously for fifteen minutes. Cover the bowl, and set in a warm place over night. In the morning beat in the melted butter and pour the batter into buttered muffin pans. Let the crumpets rise for an hour, and bake them for half an hour in a moderate oven.

If you choose you may add the butter to the mixture at night. In that case the risen sponge may be taken out by spoonfuls, being careful not to break it down, and the crumpets will then require only half an hour to rise.

Crumpets may be baked on a griddle instead of in muffin pans. If they are baked on a griddle, measure the quart of flour lightly. When ready to fry them, butter the muffin rings and also a griddle, which should not be so hot as for common griddle-cakes. Place the buttered rings on the griddle and put a spoonful of the batter in each one. When the crumpets get done on one side, turn them, and brown the other side. It will take about twelve minutes to cook them.

Sally Lunn.

Sift the flour and mix with it the sugar and salt. Heat the milk to about a hundred degrees, and dissolve the butter in it. Dissolve the compressed yeast in two tablespoonfuls of tepid water, and stir into the milk and butter. Separate the parts of the egg, and beat the white until light; then beat the yolk well. Add the milk mixture and the egg to the flour, and beat well. Pour this batter into a well buttered cake pan. Cover, and let it rise in a warm place for two hours. Bake for half an hour in a moderately hot oven, and serve on a hot dish. This is suitable for luncheon or supper. If any of the cake be left, split, toast, and butter it.

Flour Pop-overs.

Pop-overs should always be baked in stone or earthenware cups that come for the purpose, the former being by far the better. Have a dozen cups buttered and arranged in an old dripping-pan. Put the sifted flour, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl. Beat the eggs until very light; then add the milk to them. Pour this mixture on the flour, only half of it at first, and beat until the batter is smooth and light, say for about five minutes. Pour the batter into the cups and bake in a moderately hot oven for fifty minutes. They should, when done, have increased to four times their original size.

If only half a dozen pop-overs be wanted, use half of all the other materials, and take two small eggs or a very large one.

Rye Pop-overs.

Make these the same as flour pop-overs, only bake them one hour.

Graham Pop-overs.

Made the same as the rye, substituting graham for rye.

Wheat Gems.

Beat the egg till it is light, and add the milk to it. Add half of this mixture to the flour, salt, and sugar. Beat well, and add the remainder of the milk and eggs; then beat for five minutes longer. Pour the batter into hot buttered gem-pans and bake in a quick oven for twenty-five minutes.

Put the flour, salt, and sugar in a deep earthen bowl. Boil the milk and add the butter to it. Let this mixture stand until only tepid; then add the milk, butter, and yeast to the flour, and beat well. Cover the bowl and let it stand in rather a cool part of the kitchen, unless the weather be very cold; in which case it will be necessary to keep the bowl in a warm place. When morning comes, the batter will be found to have risen to a light sponge. Beat the egg till very light and add it to this sponge, beating in well. Half fill well buttered muffin pans with the batter; cover, and let the muffins rise in a warm place for one hour. Bake for half an hour in a moderately quick oven.

These muffins should not be set to rise before nine o’clock at night. They are nice for luncheon or tea, but when they are intended for luncheon put them to rise in the morning and use almost twice as much yeast as you otherwise would. With the quantity of materials stated above, a dozen muffins can be made.

Sour Milk or Buttermilk Muffins.

Melt the butter in a hot cup. Put the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Beat the egg till it is light. Dissolve the soda in the water and add it to the milk. Stir well, and add to the dry mixture; then add the egg, and finally the melted butter. Beat well and pour into hot buttered gem-pans. Bake for twenty minutes.

Graham Muffins.

Mix the graham, flour, salt, and baking powder together, and rub through a sieve. Beat the egg till very light, and add the milk and molasses to it. Turn this mixture on the dry ingredients, and beat vigorously for about a minute. Fill a dozen well buttered muffin cups with the batter, and bake in a moderately hot oven for half an hour.

Sugar may be substituted for the molasses. These muffins, when cold, are good for luncheon or dinner.

Rye Muffins.

Make them the same as graham muffins.

Graham Muffins with Sour Milk.

Make in the same way flour muffins are made, and bake for half an hour.

Rye Muffins with Sour Milk.

Make these the same as graham with sour milk, substituting rye meal for graham.

Mix all the dry ingredients and rub them through a sieve and into a bowl. Add the milk, and then the butter and lard, melted. Beat quickly, and put into heated and buttered iron gem-pans. Bake for fifteen minutes in a quick oven. If more convenient, two scant teaspoonfuls of baking powder may be substituted for the soda and cream of tartar.

With these ingredients a dozen muffins can be made.

Blueberry Muffins.

Make these the same as cream of tartar muffins, using, however, two tablespoonfuls of sugar, and lightly stirring into the batter half a pint of blueberries.

Yellow Corn Meal Muffins.

Mix all the dry ingredients and rub them through a sieve and into a bowl. Melt the butter in a hot cup. Beat the egg till light. Add the milk to it and turn this mixture into the bowl containing the dry ingredients. Add the melted butter, and beat quickly and vigorously. Pour into buttered muffin pans and bake for half an hour in a moderate oven.

Put the butter in a hot cup and pour the boiling water over it. Set on the back part of the stove. Mix all the dry ingredients and rub through a sieve and into a bowl. Beat the egg till light, and add the milk to it. Stir this mixture into the dry ingredients. Add the melted butter and water. Pour into buttered muffin pans and bake for half an hour in a moderate oven.

With these ingredients a dozen muffins can be made.

Corn Bread.

Mix all the dry ingredients together and rub through a sieve. Beat the egg till light, and add the milk to it; then pour this mixture on the dry ingredients, which should be beaten well. Now add the butter, first melting it in the hot water. Pour the batter into a well buttered pan and bake for half an hour in a moderately hot oven.

Spider Corn Cake.

Have a small short-handled, cast-iron frying-pan heating on the top of the stove. Put all the dry ingredients, except the soda, in a sieve and rub through into a bowl. Dissolve the soda in half a cupful of the sweet milk, and add it to the sour. Stir this mixture and the well beaten egg into the dry ingredients. Butter the hot frying-pan with the one tablespoonful of butter, and pour the batter into the pan. Now pour the other half cupful of milk, slowly and gently, over the mixture in the pan (it must not be stirred). Put the pan in a moderately hot oven, and cook the cake for half an hour. Slip out on a hot plate and serve at once.

Corn Dodgers.

Put the meal, salt, sugar, and butter in a bowl and pour the boiling water on the mixture. Beat the batter vigorously for two or three minutes; then shape it with the hands into small, flat cakes. Have in the frying-pan hot fat to the depth of half an inch. When it is smoking hot, put in the cakes and fry on one side until brown, then turn and brown on the other side. Serve very hot.

Baltimore Hominy Bread.

Wash the hominy, and stir it into the pint of boiling water. Add the salt, and boil gently for one hour, stirring often; or half an hour will do, if you can afford no more time. Take the cooked hominy from the fire and beat the butter into it; then add the milk, and beat for four or five minutes. Beat the eggs till light, and add them to the other ingredients. Butter a deep earthen plate and pour the mixture into it. Bake in rather a hot oven for half an hour. Serve in the dish in which it is baked.

This bread is nice with any kind of meat, but particularly with broiled or fried bacon.

Buckwheat Cakes.

Put the buckwheat, meal, and salt in a deep pail, and add to the mixture the water, yeast, and molasses. Beat vigorously for twenty minutes. Cover the pail and set in a warm place until morning. In the morning rub the soda through a fine sieve, letting it fall on the batter. Beat well. Fry on a griddle, serving as soon as cooked. Reserve one pint of the batter for raising the next batch of cakes. It should be kept in the refrigerator or the cellar.

Remember that success in making buckwheat cakes depends largely upon a thorough beating and careful raising.

Sour Milk Griddle Cakes.

Dissolve the soda in the water and stir into the sour milk. Add the flour, salt, and sugar, and beat well; then add the egg, well beaten, and the butter, melted. If there be plenty of sour cream, use a gill, and omit the butter. Put the cream in the measure and then fill up with the sour milk.

Baking Powder Griddle Cakes.

Mix all the dry ingredients and rub through a sieve. Pour the milk upon them, and beat well. Add the butter, and beat a minute longer. Fry in small cakes on a griddle.

Sour Milk Indian Griddle Cakes.

Make these the same as flour griddle cakes, using half flour and half corn meal.

Sour Milk Graham Griddle Cakes.

Make these the same as the Indian, substituting an equal quantity of graham for corn meal.

Hominy Griddle Cakes.

Put the hominy and half the salt in the boiling water, and cook for half an hour, stirring frequently. At the end of that time take from the fire and add to it the milk, flour, and remainder of the salt, and beat vigorously for fifteen minutes; then add the eggs, whites and yolks beaten separately. Fry in very small cakes on a hot griddle.

Have the hominy freshly cooked or warmed over. Dissolve the soda in the cold water and stir into the sour milk. Add the flour, salt, and hominy, and beat well; then put in the egg, also well beaten. Fry in small cakes.

Ground Rice Griddle Cakes.

Put the milk on to heat in the double-boiler. Mix the rice flour with one gill of the water and stir into the boiling milk. Cook for twenty minutes, stirring often. Turn the cooked mixture into a large bowl and stir occasionally while cooling. This is to prevent the forming of a crust on the batter. When cold, add the salt and sugar, and the soda, dissolved in half a gill of cold water. Now beat in the flour. Finally add the eggs, whites and yolks beaten separately. Fry in small cakes on a hot griddle, and serve immediately.

Blueberry Griddle Cakes.

Dissolve the soda in the cold water. Stir this into the sour milk. Now add the flour and salt, and beat well. Stir the berries in very gently. Fry the same as any other griddle cakes.

Soak the bread in the milk for several hours, then rub it through a colander. Add the seasonings, the soda, dissolved in a tablespoonful of cold water, and then the flour. Beat well, and add the eggs, well beaten. Fry on a moderately hot griddle.

These cakes take longer to cook than the ordinary batter cake. If eggs be dear, use two more tablespoonfuls of flour, and omit one egg.

Raised Flannel Cakes.

Boil the milk and pour it on the corn meal. Let this stand until it becomes tepid. Add the yeast, and pour the liquid mixture on the dry ingredients. Beat well; then cover the bowl and let it stand in a warm place over night. In the morning add the egg, white and yolk beaten separately. Fry the cakes on a griddle.

Waffles.

Warm the milk, and melt the butter in it. Let the mixture cool to about blood-heat. Beat the yolks of the eggs till light, and add the milk and butter to them. Pour this mixture on the flour and beat well. Beat the whites of the eggs to a froth, and stir them into the batter. Add the salt. Have the waffle-iron hot and well greased, and fry the waffles at once. Serve them the moment they are taken from the irons.

If eggs be scarce, use one egg and half a teaspoonful of baking powder.

In cooking waffles it is important to have both halves of the iron equally hot; and to insure this the iron must be turned frequently, both before and after the batter is poured in.

Stir the butter and salt into the hot hominy. Gradually beat in the milk; then let the mixture cool. Mix the baking powder with the flour, and sift into the hominy mixture. Beat well; then add the eggs, well beaten, and cook in hot irons. Serve the waffles the instant they come from the irons.

Raised Wheat Waffles.

Boil the milk, and, after adding the butter to it, let the mixture stand until cool. Put the flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Add the milk and yeast, and beat well for fifteen minutes, or even twenty. Let this batter rise over night. In the morning add the egg, well beaten. Have the waffle-irons hot and well greased, and cook the cakes quickly. They should be served the moment they come from the irons. They will be sufficiently cooked as soon as they are browned on both sides.