This quantity of material will make three loaves.

Have the water warm, not hot. Stir into the water the sugar, salt, softened butter, and the yeast, which has been dissolved in a tablespoonful of water (yeast is more easily dissolved in a small quantity of water), then stir in enough flour to make a batter as thick as can be stirred easily. Stir and beat the batter well for about ten minutes. Cover the bread-pan and set it in a warm place (eighty degrees is the right temperature). When the dough is light, or about doubled in bulk, stir it down, and beat it well for a few minutes. Let it rise a second time, and again beat it, then turn it into the pans, filling them half full. The tops of the loaves can be made smooth by brushing them with a pastry-brush dipped in water.

The stirring gives a fine texture. The dough rises quickly after the first rising, and must be watched that it does not get light enough to sour. Let the loaves rise in the baking-pans to double in size, then bake in a hot oven for one hour.

Bread made in this way is very light and spongy, and is much better than that which is made so thick with flour that it can be kneaded. It has also the other advantages of being easier to make, the results are more reliable, and the objection of too much handling is removed. It requires an experienced hand to knead bread without making it too heavy with flour.

WATER BREAD

Place the flour on the hot shelf to get thoroughly warm. Let it be warm to the hand. Dissolve the yeast in a tablespoonful of water, and add it, with the salt, to a quart of warm water. Turn the liquid into the flour, reserving enough flour to use on the molding-board. Mix it thoroughly. Turn it on to the board and form it into well-shaped loaves. This quantity of material will make three loaves. Let it rise in the pans to double in size, which will take about one and a half hours. Bake for one hour.

This bread is made in about three hours. It is the most simple receipt possible, and gives excellent results. Some judgment must be used about the quantity of flour, as it takes a little more or less according to its dryness.

WHOLE WHEAT BREAD

Add the salt to the water. Mix the molasses with part of the water and with the yeast, which has been dissolved in a little water. Stir the liquid into the flour, and add enough more water to make a thick batter. Beat it for some time, or until it is well mixed and the batter is smooth. Let it rise overnight. Early in the morning stir it down, and turn it into the pans. Let it rise in the pans to double in size, and bake for one hour. The above quantities will make two loaves.

ROUND LOAF AND BAKING TIN

Any bread mixture may be baked in this pan. The fancy form is its only recommendation. Round slices are attractive for a change, and made into toast give also an agreeable variety.

The pan is filled barely half full of dough. It is left to rise for one hour, and is baked for one hour.

UNLEAVENED BREAD-CHIPS

Mix into a quart of graham, or of white, or of whole wheat flour one tablespoonful of butter and one level tablespoonful of salt, then add about one and a quarter cupfuls of milk and water, half and half, or enough to make a stiff dough. Flour the molding-board and roll the mixture thin, fold it together twice and roll it again. Again fold it, and again roll it very thin. Mark it off, using a pastry-wheel, into strips one and a quarter inches wide and four to five inches long. Bake it in a moderate oven for twenty minutes, or until the chips are cooked through and are brittle, but not very brown.

This bread is recommended for dyspeptics and people of delicate digestion, on the theory that the yeast-plant is not thoroughly destroyed when baking bread, and that it continues to ferment in the stomach.

These cakes should be made of meal ground finer than any we are able to get in our markets; therefore, one must resort to the expedient of pounding in a mortar the finest meal obtainable, and sifting it through a coarse mesh.

Add to one cupful of fine meal one teaspoonful of salt and enough hot water to make a stiff dough. Sift some of the meal on to the molding-board, and roll the mixture into a thin cake. Bake it slowly on a griddle until it is thoroughly dried.

PULLED BREAD

Take a loaf of freshly baked bread. Cut through the crust around the loaf at intervals of two inches, then pull the thick slices apart. Remove the crumb from the crusts, leaving it in ragged pieces. Place it in a slow oven to color and crisp, turning it often enough to have it dry and color on every side.

THE BREAD-CUTTER

The bread-plane can be adjusted to cut slices of any thickness. It will cut fresh bread very thin. Bread which is a day old it will cut as thin as lace. For cutting bread for sandwiches it is especially useful.

LACE TOAST OR ZWIEBACK

Use stale bread, and with the bread-plane shave off slices as thin as lace. Spread the slices on pans and place them in the oven for a minute to brown, or place them on a toaster on top of the range.

It will take but a minute for them to dry and take an even light-golden color.

This toast can be served with soup, or at any time in place of cracker biscuits. It is a form of toast much liked by people who do not eat starchy foods and so abstain from bread.

SWISS ROLLS

Scald one cupful of milk to which have been added one tablespoonful of sugar and two tablespoonfuls of butter. When it has partly cooled add one half a cake of compressed yeast. Stir in well about three quarters of a quart of flour. Put it in a moderately warm place to rise. When it is light, place it in the ice-box for at least three hours, or overnight. When ready to use, turn the raised dough on a well-floured board, and roll it to a half-inch thickness. Spread the top with butter, and roll the sheet of dough like a jelly-cake roll. See illustration No. 194. Cut from the end of the roll slices three quarters of an inch in thickness.

Place the slices in pans, leaving plenty of room between each one, so they will not touch in rising. Let them rise slowly until they are very light, and more than doubled in size. Bake in a quick oven about twenty minutes.

LUNCHEON OR DINNER ROLLS, BRAIDS, TWISTS

For these rolls, any bread dough may be used. In order to get the pieces of uniform size, mold the dough into a roll about one and a half inches in diameter. Cut the roll into pieces one and a half inches long, giving pieces the size of an egg, or make the pieces larger, if desired. Turn each piece into a ball, and then, using both hands, roll it into shape, making a roll which is thick in the center and pointed at each end. See illustration No. 196.

Place the rolls in pans, giving them sufficient room to rise without touching. When they have a little more than doubled in size, brush the tops with beaten egg diluted with a little milk. Bake them in a quick oven for fifteen or twenty minutes.

For making braids, roll the dough into pencil-shaped pieces about half an inch in diameter and five inches long. Brush each one with melted butter. Press the ends of three pieces together and braid them. Let them rise to double in size, brush the tops with egg and milk, and bake for fifteen to twenty minutes.

Twists are made the same as braids, using two instead of three pieces of dough.

STRIPED BREAD AND BUTTER

Cut white and any kind of brown bread into slices from three eighths to half an inch in thickness. Spread each slice generously with butter which is soft enough to spread easily. Lay the slices together in alternating colors, two buttered sides coming together in each layer. When the pile of buttered slices is three and a half to four inches high, cut it into good shape, removing the crusts. Place the bread between two plates under a light weight and set it into the ice-box to harden the butter. When ready to serve, cut it into slices about as thick as the original slices, and then into strips.

CHECKERED BREAD AND BUTTER

Cut, one inch thick, three slices each of white and of brown bread. Spread a slice of the white bread with a thick layer of soft butter. Lay on it a buttered slice of brown bread, placing the buttered sides together. Cover the top of the brown slice with butter, and lay on it a buttered slice of white bread, the buttered sides together. You have now three layers of bread, with the brown slice in the middle. Repeat the operation, reversing the order of the white and brown slices. Trim the two piles evenly, and place them in the ice-box under a light pressure. When the butter is well hardened, cut slices an inch thick from the ends of both piles. Butter these slices as before, placing two buttered sides together, and arrange them so that the colors will alternate in squares.

The hardened butter holds the pieces together, and if the slices are evenly cut, a checkered square of bread will be the result.

Put the bread and butter under a light pressure in the ice-box, and when ready to serve cut it into thin slices.

BREAD AND BUTTER SANDWICHES

It is difficult to butter very thin slices of bread unless the butter is soft. It is well, when making plain bread and butter sandwiches, to whip the butter until it is light, soft, and smooth, and then to spread but one piece of the sandwich. Where filling is used it is not necessary to butter the bread, as oil or butter is used in the paste.

No. 1. In circles with nuts. Thin slices of buttered Boston brown bread, or of graham bread, cut with a biscuit-cutter into circles one and a half inches in diameter. The meat of one half of an English walnut is placed on the top of each one and held in place with a little butter.

No. 2. Brown and white bread combined. Cut into circles two and a half inches or less in diameter thin slices of brown and white bread. Use a buttered round of brown and of white bread for each sandwich.

For rolled sandwiches the bread should be very fresh and moist, and entirely free from crust. As it is difficult to cut fresh bread with a knife, use a loaf which is a day old if a bread-plane is not at hand. Cut it into slices one eighth of an inch thick, using a sharp knife. It will cut easier if the crust is first removed from the loaf. Arrange the slices in a pile and cut them all together into good shape. Wrap the bread in a wet cloth and let it stand in a cool place for two hours. The bread will then be moist and pliable enough to roll without breaking. The slices may be simply buttered, or they may be spread with any mixture desired. If meat or fish is used, it should be reduced to paste by chopping and pounding, and be well seasoned. (See “Century Cook Book,” page 364.) Use some butter or oil in the mixture, so the slices will not need to be buttered. Spread the slices with the paste and roll them carefully, then roll each one in a piece of paraffin paper, cut long enough to wrap the sandwich one and a half times, and wide enough to extend an inch over each end. Twist the ends of the paper.

Keep the sandwiches in the ice-box until ready to use, and serve them with the papers on. Wrapped sandwiches will keep fresh for forty-eight hours. They are especially suitable for travelers and for picnics.

LETTUCE SANDWICHES

Cut fresh bread into slices a little more than one eighth of an inch in thickness, using the bread-plane if convenient. Arrange the slices in a pile, and cut the bread into a shape about four by four and a half inches. This removes the crusts and leaves all the slices of exactly the same size. Uniformity in size and shape is one of the points to observe in making sandwiches. Spread the slices lightly with butter which is soft enough to spread evenly without tearing the bread. Place on each buttered slice a leaf of crisp lettuce which is large enough to extend a little over the ends of the slice, and from which the midrib has been removed. Sprinkle the lettuce plentifully with salt. Roll the slices carefully, and tie around each one a piece of paper the width of the bread.

At the time of serving, this paper is removed and the butter will then be sufficiently hardened to keep the rolls in shape.

Place the sandwiches on a plate, cover them with a wet napkin, and keep them in a cool place until ready to serve. In this way sandwiches may be kept fresh for twenty-four hours.

SANDWICH FILLINGS

Chicken and celery. Chop chicken and celery in equal quantities until they are very fine. Mix them to a paste with mayonnaise.

Egg filling. Chop hard-boiled eggs until very fine and mix them to a paste with plain French dressing, or with mayonnaise.

Ham filling. Put in a saucepan two tablespoonfuls of butter, one teaspoonful of mustard, one teaspoonful of sugar, and the yolks of two eggs. Beat them together, and add slowly, stirring all the time, three quarters of a cupful of hot vinegar. Place it on the fire and stir until the mixture is a little thickened, then add one cupful of minced ham and two thirds of a cupful of tender celery, also chopped very fine. Add salt and pepper to taste.

This preparation can be kept, to use as needed, if put into preserve glasses and covered with melted butter or lard.

Cut the bread into slices one eighth of an inch thick, and remove the crust as directed above. The filling of a sandwich should be as thick as one of the slices of bread. After the sandwiches are prepared, using the whole slices, cut them into the shapes desired. This may be small squares, fingers, triangles, circles, or hearts, as the fancy or occasion dictates. Where a variety of sandwiches are being served at the same time, each variety should be cut alike, but of a different pattern from the others, and the dish garnished distinctively. For instance, a hard-boiled egg cut lengthwise, a square of cheese, a few olives, nuts, flowers, or whatever the filling used, can be placed in the center of the plate, and the sandwiches arranged in a circle around it. A wishbone makes a good label for chicken, and parsley or gherkins would indicate meat mixtures. The brown breads make excellent sandwiches, and help to give variety. Cucumbers sliced, and watercress freed from the large stems, may be mixed with French dressing before being placed in the bread, or they may be only salted.

Nasturtium flowers require no seasoning.

Olives and nuts are sliced or cut into small pieces, but should not be cut very fine, as it injures their flavor.

Cheese may be sliced or grated.

See “Century Cook Book,” page 364, for further directions about mixtures for fillings.

When the sandwiches are finished they should be placed between plates under a light weight, covered with a damp cloth, and kept in a cool place until the time of serving.

Sandwiches prepared for a traveler’s luncheon should be made a little thicker and larger than directed above, as they must be hearty enough to constitute a meal. If wrapped in paraffin paper, they will keep fresh for a long time.

TOASTED CHEESE SANDWICHES

Make a filling of grated cheese, toast the sandwiches on both sides, and serve them hot.

Many kinds of sandwiches may be toasted. Sandwiches left over may be utilized in this way.

BRIOCHE

Brioche is a light bun. The mixture is also used for savarins and babas. See page 147.

Make a leaven as follows:

Add to a cupful of tepid milk a yeast-cake and half a pound of flour. Mix it well and set it in a warm place to rise until it is very light. It will take about an hour.

Sift on to a rolling-board one pound of flour, and make a well in the center. Break seven eggs into a bowl, add a teaspoonful of salt, and beat the eggs enough to break them thoroughly. Cut three quarters of a pound of butter into pieces.

Put three tablespoonfuls of milk and two tablespoonfuls of sugar into the well of flour, add a piece of butter and some of the broken eggs. Work all these together with the hand, incorporating the flour gradually. Add the eggs and butter gradually until all are worked in, and continue the working for some time, then add the leaven and work the whole mixture for a long time, or until it does not stick. Set it aside to rise and double in size, work it again, and put it in the ice-box for twelve hours.

Mold the brioche dough into a round ball. Place it in a pan, make a depression in the top with the hand, brush it with egg diluted with a little milk, and put into it a small ball of dough. Cut slits around the large ball. Let it rise, then bake it in a hot oven.

CORN-MUFFINS

Put a cupful of milk in a saucepan on the fire and let it come to the scalding-point, then stir in the cornmeal, and continue to stir until the meal is thoroughly expanded. If a coarse meal is used, it should cook for a few minutes to destroy the grainy texture. Remove the meal from, the fire and stir into it the butter and the sugar. Let it stand until cool, then add the rest of the milk, the eggs, which have been beaten (yolks and whites together), the salt, and lastly the flour, which has been thoroughly mixed with the baking-powder by sifting. Stir the mixture to smoothness and turn it into well-buttered gem-pans. Bake in a moderate oven for about forty-five minutes.

cornmeal should be thoroughly cooked, and the baking can be continued until the muffins draw away from the sides of the pans. The baking should be slow at first, so the muffins will rise evenly, giving a flat top. This quantity of mixture will make one dozen large muffins.

The receipt may be modified by using less sugar or less butter, or by changing the proportions of meal and flour.

CHEESE-CRACKERS

Spread any biscuits with butter, and put them in the oven to brown slightly. As soon as they are removed from the oven cover them with grated cheese, let them stand a few minutes, then shake off all the cheese that does not stick.

Saltine biscuits are especially good to use with cheese.