DICK BENNET’S RECEIPT FOR YEAST

Peel nine good-sized potatoes, and boil them with a large handful of loose hops tied in a thin muslin bag. Use enough water to cover them well. When the potatoes are tender strain off the water. Mash the potatoes, return them to the water in which they were boiled, and mix them well together. Add two tablespoonfuls of flour, one half cupful of granulated sugar, and one tablespoonful of salt. Cook it for a few minutes, adding sufficient flour to make a thin batter. Set it aside until lukewarm; then add a yeast-cake, or a cupful of liquid yeast. Mix it well and place in a stone jar. Let it stand for twelve hours in a warm place. Stir it three times during this period. Place a weight on the lid of the jar, and set it in a cool place.

YEAST RECEIPT No. 2

• 6 grated raw potatoes.
• 1 cupful of brown sugar.
• ½ cupful of salt.
• 2 quarts of flour.

Mix these together, and add enough water to make a batter as thick as that used for griddle cakes.

Pour two quarts of boiling water on as many hops as one can hold in the hand. Let them boil for five minutes. Strain off the water, and while hot add it to the batter. When it is lukewarm add a cupful of yeast, or a yeast cake. Let it stand several hours in a warm place until it rises, or the top is covered with bubbles. Then place in glass preserve jars, and keep in a cool place. Use a granite-ware saucepan and a wooden spoon when making yeast, in order to keep a good color.

WHAT TO DO WHEN YEAST IS NOT OBTAINABLE TO START THE FERMENTATION IN MAKING YEAST

Mix a thin batter of flour and water, and let it stand in a warm place until it is full of bubbles. This ferment has only half the strength of yeast, so double the amount must be used.

PROPORTIONS OF RAISING MATERIALS TO USE, AND OTHER ITEMS

One cake of compressed yeast is equal to one cupful of liquid yeast.

Baking-powder is a mixture of soda, cream of tartar, and cornstarch, or rice flour.

Use one level teaspoonful of baking-powder to each cupful of flour.

Use one even teaspoonful of soda and two full teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar to a quart of flour.

When sour milk is used, take one even teaspoonful of soda to a pint of milk, and omit the cream of tartar.

When molasses is used, omit the cream of tartar, and use one teaspoonful of soda to each cupful of molasses.

Mix powders with the flour, and sift them together, so as to thoroughly mix them.

Mix dry materials in one bowl and liquids in another; combine them quickly, and put at once into the oven.

The oven for baking bread should be hot enough to brown a teaspoonful of flour in five minutes. For biscuits it should brown in one minute.

Rolls brushed with milk just before baking will have a brown crust.

Rubbing the crust with butter just before it is taken from the oven will make it crisp.

GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING BREAD

WATER BREAD No. 1

TWO SMALL LOAVES)

• 2 cupfuls of tepid water.
• 1 teaspoonful of salt.
• ½ compressed yeast cake.
• 6 to 7 cupfuls of flour.

For mixing, kneading, and baking, see general directions given at head of chapter.

WATER BREAD No. 2

(TWO SMALL LOAVES)

• 2 cupfuls of tepid water.
• ½ cake of compressed yeast.
• 1 teaspoonful of salt.
• 6 to 7 cupfuls of flour.
• 1 tablespoonful of sugar.
• 1 tablespoonful of butter, lard, drippings, or cottolene.

For mixing, kneading, and baking, see general directions given at head of chapter.

MILK BREAD

Make the same as Water Bread No. 2, but use milk in place of the water, or use half milk and half water.

POTATO BREAD

Add one medium-sized mashed boiled potato to the sponge of any of the foregoing receipts. Potato gives a more moist bread, which retains its freshness longer.

RECEIPT FOR ONE LOAF OF BREAD OR ONE PAN OF BISCUITS TO BE MADE IN TWO HOURS

• 1 cupful of scalded milk.
• ¼ cupful of butter.
• 3 yeast cakes.
• 1 tablespoonful of sugar
• ½ teaspoonful of salt.
• White of one egg.
• 3 to 4 cupfuls of flour.

Make a sponge; let it stand in a warm place in a pan of warm water until full of bubbles; then add the flour, knead it for twenty minutes, mold into loaf, and let it rise in the baking-pan until double in size, and bake.

BREAD MADE WITH BAKING-POWDER

Add to four quarts of flour a teaspoonful of salt and six teaspoonfuls of baking-powder. Sift them three times so as to thoroughly mix them, and then add slowly a quart of cold water, or enough to make a dough of the right consistency. Mold it quickly into four loaves, and put at once into a moderate oven for one and a quarter hours.

BREAD MADE OF WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR

Dissolve a yeast cake in two tablespoonfuls of tepid water. Put into a bowl a pint of milk; add to it a pint of boiling water, and let it stand until it is lukewarm; then add the dissolved yeast, a teaspoonful of salt, and enough whole wheat flour to make a thick batter. The batter should drop, but not run off the spoon. Beat this batter with a spoon for fifteen minutes. It becomes quite soft and liquid by beating. Add enough more flour to make a dough; turn it onto the board and knead it a few minutes; return it to pan, and let rise for three hours, or until light. Mold it into small loaves; let it rise again, and bake in moderate oven thirty to forty-five minutes.

GRAHAM BREAD

Dissolve a half teaspoonful of soda in a cupful of lukewarm water. Put a tablespoonful of butter into a tablespoonful and a half of molasses, and let them warm until the butter is melted. Add to it the dissolved soda and water, and a half teaspoonful of salt. Stir this mixture into a cupful of light white bread sponge, and add enough Graham flour to make a stiff batter, or very thin dough. Turn into a greased pan. Let it rise until even with the top of the pan, and bake in a moderate oven an hour or an hour and a quarter. Use a spoon, and not the hands, for mixing Graham flour. A little white flour may be mixed with the Graham flour if a lighter colored and dryer bread is preferred.

GLUTEN BREAD

Pour a pint of boiling water into a pint of milk; add a teaspoonful of butter and a teaspoonful of salt. Let it stand until it is lukewarm; then add a well-beaten egg, a quarter of a yeast-cake dissolved, and enough gluten to make a soft batter. Cover and stand in a warm place to rise; then add enough gluten to make a soft dough, and knead it well. Form it into four loaves, and let rise again. Bake for one hour.

Gluten bread requires less yeast and less time to rise than ordinary bread.

BOSTON BROWN BREAD

• 2 cupfuls of white cornmeal.
• 2 cupfuls of yellow cornmeal.
• 2 cupfuls of Graham flour or of rye meal or of white flour.
• 1 cupful of molasses.
• 2 cupfuls of milk (one of them being sour milk, if convenient).
• 2 cupfuls of boiling water.
• 1 teaspoonful of salt.
• 1 teaspoonful of soda.

Mix well the flour, meal, and salt; add to them the boiling water. Mix the sweet milk and molasses together, and add them to the scalded meal. Dissolve the soda in the sour milk, and add it last. Turn the mixture into a covered cylindrical mold or into a covered pail, and steam it for three hours; then uncover and bake in the oven for half an hour. Slices of this bread toasted, buttered, and covered with cream make a good breakfast or luncheon dish.

TOAST

Cut the bread in even slices one quarter of an inch thick. Cut off the crust and trim the pieces into even and uniform shape. There is no waste in this, as the scraps of bread can be dried and crumbed. If the bread is fresh, let it dry a few minutes in the oven. Place it on a wire toaster, and turn often until well dried through; then hold it over the coals a minute to take an even golden color. Toast requires careful watching, or it will burn or be unevenly colored. Toast should not be served until the moment it is required. A few pieces only should be served at a time, and the plate should be hot. If wrapped in a napkin, or piled up, it quickly becomes damp and loses its crispness. If a soft toast is wanted, color the bread at once without drying it; the center will then be only heated. Toast used under game or meats is made dry, buttered, and sprinkled with salt; then softened with a little boiling water.

MILK TOAST

Make a dry toast; spread it with butter, and sprinkle it with salt. Place it in the dish in which it is to be served, and pour over it a little boiling water; cover it, and place in the oven a few minutes to steam and soak up the water. It should have enough water to entirely soften it, but not lose its shape. Put one teaspoonful of butter in a saucepan. When it bubbles, stir in a teaspoonful of flour, and let it cook a minute without coloring. Add slowly, stirring all the time, one cupful of milk. Cook until it is slightly thickened; add a saltspoonful of salt. Pour this thickened milk over the softened toast just before serving. Bread for milk toast should be cut in even slices one half inch thick, thoroughly dried in toasting, evenly colored, and steamed until tender. When cream is used, it is scalded and poured over the softened toast.

PANADA

Split Bent’s water biscuits in two; sprinkle salt or sugar between them, and place together again; or, use two large soda biscuits, or pilot bread, or Passover bread. Place them in the dish in which they will be served; pour over enough boiling water to cover them. Cover the dish, and place it in the open oven, or on the hot shelf, until the biscuits have become soft like jelly; pour off any water that has not been absorbed, using care not to break the biscuits. Sprinkle again with salt or sugar. A little cream or hot milk can be added if desired.

PULLED BREAD

Break off irregular pieces of the crumb of fresh bread, and dry it in a very slow oven until lightly colored. The inside of fresh biscuits left over can be treated in this way, and will keep an indefinite time. They should be heated in the oven when served, and are good with chocolate, or coffee, or bouillon. The crusts of the biscuits may be used as cups for creamed meats or vegetables, or for eggs.

ZWIEBACK

Cut rusks into slices one half inch thick, and dry them in a very slow oven until dried through, and of a deep yellow color. Slices of Vienna bread can be used in the same way.

BREAD FRITTERS

Take pieces of raised bread-dough the size of an egg, drop them into smoking hot fat, and fry to a gold color, the same as doughnuts. Drain and serve on a napkin for breakfast, or sprinkle them with powdered sugar and ground cinnamon mixed, and serve them for luncheon.

BREAD ROLLS

For one panful of biscuits take as much raised bread-dough as will make one loaf of bread. Use any kind of bread-dough, but if no shortening has been used, add a tablespoonful of butter to this amount of dough. Add also more flour to make a stiffer dough than for bread. Work it for ten minutes so as to give it a finer grain. Cut it into pieces half the size of an egg, roll them into balls, and place in a pan some distance apart. If enough space is given, each roll will be covered with crust, which is the best part of hot breads. If, however, the crumb is preferred, place them in the pan near enough to run together in rising. Let the biscuits rise to more than double size, and bake in a quick oven twenty to thirty minutes.

When removed from the oven rub the crusts with a little butter, and wrap the rolls in a cloth until ready to serve. This will give a tender crust. If a deep color is liked, brush the rolls with milk or egg before placing them in the oven. A glaze is obtained by brushing them with sugar dissolved in milk when taken from the oven, then replacing them in the oven again for a moment to dry.

CRESCENTS

Add to bread-dough a little more sugar, and enough flour to make a stiff dough. Roll it to one eighth inch thickness. Cut it into strips six inches wide, and then into sharp triangles. Roll them up, commencing at the base; the point of the triangle will then come in the middle of the roll. Turn the points around into the shape of crescents. Place on tins to rise for half an hour, brush the tops with water, and bake until lightly colored. When taken from the oven brush the tops with thin boiled cornstarch water, and place again for a minute in the oven to glaze.

BRAIDS AND TWISTS

Take any bread- or biscuit-dough. Roll it one inch thick, and cut it into strips one inch wide. Roll the strips on the board to make them round. Brush the strips with butter. Braid or twist the strips together, making them pointed at the ends, and broad in the middle. Let them rise a little, but not so much as to lose shape, and bake in a quick oven. Glaze the tops the same as directed above for crescents.

CLEFT ROLLS

Make the dough into balls of the size desired. After the rolls have risen cut each roll across the top with a sharp knife about an inch deep. If cut twice it makes a cross roll. Glaze the tops as directed for crescents, or brush them with milk and sugar.

LUNCHEON AND TEA ROLLS

• 2 quarts of flour.
• 3 cups of boiled milk.
• 3 tablespoonfuls of sugar.
• 1 teaspoonful of salt.
• ½ cupful of butter.
• Whites of 2 eggs.
• ½ yeast cake.

Boil the milk, dissolve in it the sugar and salt, and add the butter to melt it. When this mixture becomes tepid, add the beaten whites of the eggs and the yeast, dissolved in two tablespoonfuls of water; then stir in the flour, and knead it for twenty to thirty minutes; cover it well, and put it aside in a warm place free from draughts to rise over night. If to be used for breakfast, mold the rolls to any shape desired; let them rise to more than double their size, and bake for thirty minutes. If they are to be used for luncheon, cut down with a knife the raised dough in the morning, and keep it in a cool place until an hour and a half before the time for serving the rolls; then mold, raise, and bake them. If they are to be used for tea, do not set the dough until morning. In summer allow four and a half hours for the whole work, the same as directed for bread on page 340.

PARKER HOUSE ROLLS

• 2 quarts of flour.
• 2 tablespoonfuls of butter, or lard, or cottolene.
• 1 teaspoonful of salt.
• 1 pint of milk.
• ? compressed yeast cake.
• ½ cupful of sugar (scant).

Put the salt into the flour, and work in the shortening thoroughly. Dissolve the yeast in one cupful of warm water. Scald the milk, and dissolve the sugar in it after it is taken off the fire. When the milk is lukewarm, mix the yeast with it. Make a hollow in the center of the flour, and pour into it the milk and yeast mixture. Sprinkle a little of the flour over the top. Cover the pan well, and leave it to rise. If this sponge is set at five o’clock, at ten o’clock stir the whole together thoroughly with a spoon. Do not beat it, but stir it well, as it gets no other kneading. In the morning turn the dough onto a board, work it together a little, and roll it evenly one half inch thick. Lift the dough off the board a little to let it shrink all it will before cutting. Cut it into rounds with a good-sized biscuit-cutter. Place a small piece of butter on one side, and double the other side over it, so the edges meet. Let them rise for two hours, and bake in a quick oven for twenty minutes. If the rolls are to be used for luncheon, cut down the dough in the morning and keep it in a cool place until the time for molding them. If for tea, set the sponge in the morning, using one half cake of compressed yeast.352-*

TEA BISCUITS MADE WITH BAKING POWDER

• 4 cupfuls of sifted flour.
• 3 teaspoonfuls of baking-powder.
• 1 teaspoonful of salt.
• 1 tablespoonful of butter.

Add the salt and baking-powder to the flour and sift them. Rub in the butter well. With a fork stir in lightly and quickly sufficient milk to make a soft dough. The dough must be only just stiff enough to roll. Flour the board well, turn the dough onto it, and lightly roll it to a half inch thickness. Cut it into small circles, brush the tops with milk, and bake in a quick oven for twenty to thirty minutes.

BISCUITS MADE WITH SOUR MILK

• 1 quart of flour.
• 1 teaspoonful of soda.
• 1 teaspoonful of salt.
• 1 tablespoonful of butter or lard.
• Milk.

Mix the soda and the salt with the flour, and sift them several times so they will be thoroughly mixed. Rub in the butter evenly. Stir in lightly with a fork enough sour milk to make a dough just stiff enough to roll. The dough can be left very soft if the board is well floured and the rolling-pin is used very lightly, patting the dough rather than rolling it. Roll it out quickly an inch thick. Cut it into small rounds. Bake in a quick oven twenty to thirty minutes. The dough can be rolled half an inch thick, and two rounds placed together with a small bit of butter between. They are then called twin biscuits. These biscuits may be made of sweet milk, in which case two rounding teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar must be used with the soda and mixed with the flour.

CORN BREAD No. 1

• 2 cupfuls of flour.
• 1½ cupfuls of cornmeal (yellow or white).
• ½ cupful of sugar.
• 1 saltspoonful of salt.
• 3 teaspoonfuls of baking powder.
• 1? cupfuls of milk.
• 1 tablespoonful of butter or lard melted.
• 2 eggs.

Mix the flour, meal, salt, and baking-powder together thoroughly. Beat together the eggs and sugar; add the butter, then the flour mixture, and lastly mix in quickly the milk and turn into a flat pan to bake. Sour milk can be used instead of sweet milk, in which case a teaspoonful of soda dissolved in a quarter of a cupful of hot water is used, and baking-powder is omitted.

CORN BREAD No. 2

• 1 cupful of fine cornmeal sifted.
• 1½ cupfuls of milk.
• 2 eggs.
• 1 tablespoonful of butter.
• 1 teaspoonful of baking-powder.
• 1 teaspoonful of sugar.

Scald the milk and pour it onto the sifted meal. Let it cool, then add the melted butter, salt, sugar, baking-powder, and yolks of the eggs. Stir it quickly and thoroughly together, and lastly fold in the whites of the eggs beaten to a stiff froth. Bake in a flat pan in a hot oven for thirty minutes.

PUFFS OR POP-OVERS

• 2 cupfuls of milk.
• 2 cupfuls of flour.
• 2 eggs (whites and yolks beaten separately).
• 1 teaspoonful of salt.

Mix the salt with the flour. Mix the beaten yolks with the milk, and add them slowly to the flour to make a smooth batter. Lastly fold in the whipped whites. Put the batter at once into hot greased gem-pans, filling them half full, and put into a hot oven for thirty minutes. Serve at once, as they fall as soon as the heat is lost.

GRAHAM GEMS

• 2 cupfuls of Graham flour.
• 1 cupful of milk.
• 1 cupful of water.
• 2 eggs.
• ½ teaspoonful of salt.
• 1 tablespoonful of sugar.

Mix the dry ingredients together; beat the eggs separately. Mix the milk with the salt and sugar; add the water, then the flour, and lastly fold in the whipped whites, and put at once into very hot greased gem-pans, filling them half full. Bake in a hot oven thirty minutes.

CORN GEMS

(MADE OF CORN FLOUR)

• 2 eggs.
• 1 cupful of corn flour.
• ½ cupful of white flour.
• 1 tablespoonful of butter.
• 1 cupful of milk.
• 1 teaspoonful of salt.
• 1 teaspoonful of baking-powder.

Break the yolks of the eggs; add to them milk, salt, and melted butter; mix them well together, then add the two kinds of flour. Beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth; when they are ready, add the baking-powder to the flour mixture and then fold in lightly the whipped whites. Turn at once into warm gem-pans, a tablespoonful of batter into each one, and bake in a hot oven for fifteen minutes. This receipt can be used for any kind of flour.

MUFFINS No. 1

• 2 cupfuls of flour.
• 1 cupful of milk.
• 1 level tablespoonful of butter.
• 2 eggs (beaten separately).
• ½ teaspoonful of salt.
• 2 even teaspoonfuls of baking-powder.

Mix thoroughly the baking-powder and salt with the flour. Stir the milk and yolks together; add the butter, melted; then the flour, and lastly fold in the whipped whites. Turn into hot gem-pans, and bake at once in a very hot oven for fifteen to twenty minutes. Serve immediately.

RAISED MUFFINS

• 1 pint of milk, scalded.
• ½ compressed yeast-cake.
• 2 tablespoonfuls of butter.
• 1 tablespoonful of sugar.
• 1 teaspoonful of salt.
• About 2½ cupfuls of flour.

Scald the milk, and add the butter, sugar and salt. When it has become lukewarm, add the yeast dissolved in a quarter cupful of lukewarm water. Stir in enough flour to make a drop batter, cover it well, place it in a warm place free from draughts, and let rise over night. In the morning stir it down, grease some muffin-rings, place them on a hot greased griddle, fill the rings half full of batter. It will rise to the top. Turn the muffins with a pancake turner and bake them on both sides until a thin brown crust is formed. Two eggs may be added to the batter in the morning if desired. If so, beat the yolks and whites separately and add the whites last.

ENGLISH MUFFINS OR CRUMPETS

Use the receipt for raised muffins, omitting the sugar and eggs. Do not bake them so much. Turn them before the crust becomes brown. When cold, pull them apart and toast them.

SALLY LUNN

This is the same as the receipt for Muffins No. 1, using three eggs instead of two, and baking it in a cake-tin instead of gem-pans. In this form it is served for luncheon or for tea.

WAFFLES

• 2 cupfuls of flour.
• 1 teaspoonful of baking-powder.
• 1¼ cupfuls of milk.
• 1 tablespoonful of butter, or lard, or cottolene.
• ½ teaspoonful of salt.
• 3 eggs beaten separately.

Mix the flour, baking-powder, and salt thoroughly together. Mix the yolks with the milk; then the melted butter, the flour, and lastly the beaten whites. Have the waffle-iron very clean; let it be thoroughly heated on both sides. Rub it over with a piece of salt pork, or with a piece of butter tied in a clean rag. Close the iron, and turn it so the grease will cover every part. Put enough batter into each section of the iron to fill it two-thirds full. Shut the iron, and cook the waffles a minute or longer on each side. Serve the waffles hot, using with them syrup or powdered sugar mixed with ground cinnamon.

HOMINY CAKE

Stir into one cupful of boiled hominy while it is still hot a teaspoonful of butter, one saltspoonful of salt, and the yolks of two eggs well beaten; add slowly a cupful of milk, and then a half cupful of fine cornmeal; lastly, fold in the whipped whites of two eggs. Bake in a flat tin in a hot oven for twenty to thirty minutes. Cold boiled hominy left over can be used for this dish by heating it with enough water to moisten it.

OAT CAKE

Mix oatmeal, which is ground fine, with a little salt and enough water to make a stiff dough. Roll it on a floured board to one eighth inch thickness, and bake it in one sheet in a slow oven without browning, until dry and hard. It should be gray in color. When done, break it into irregular pieces. This is a Scotch dish, and in Scotland is made with a fine oat flour, which is difficult to obtain in this country.

BRAN BISCUITS

• 1 pint of bran.
• ½ pint of flour.
• ½ pint of milk.
• 6 tablespoonfuls of molasses.
• 1 even teaspoonful of baking soda.

Mix the bran, flour, and soda together, mix the molasses and milk together, and add the flour mixture. Bake in gem-pans. Two of these biscuits eaten at each meal act as a laxative and cure for constipation. The receipt is furnished by a physician.

BREAD STICKS

Any bread-dough may be used, though that with shortening is preferred. After it is kneaded enough to be elastic, cut it into pieces half the size of an egg, roll it on the board into a stick the size of a pencil and a foot long. Lay the strips on a floured baking-tin or sheet. Let them rise a very little, and bake in a moderate oven, so they will dry without browning. Serve them with bouillon or soups, or with tea.

RUSKS

• 1 cupful of milk scalded.
• 2 tablespoonfuls of butter.
• 3 tablespoonfuls of sugar.
• 2 eggs.
• ½ cake of compressed yeast.
• ½ teaspoonful of salt.
• Flour.

Make a sponge (see directions at head of chapter), using the milk, salt, and yeast. When it is full of bubbles, add the butter, sugar, and well-beaten eggs. Stir in enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead it for twenty minutes. Let it rise to double its bulk; then mold it into balls the size of half an egg. Place them rather close together in a baking-tin, and let them rise until very light. When they are ready to go into the oven, brush over the tops with sugar dissolved in milk, and sprinkle the tops with dry sugar. Bake in a hot oven about half an hour. Rusks must be well kneaded and be very light before being baked. A part of the dough set for bread may be made into rusks by adding to it an egg, sugar, and butter.

DRIED RUSKS

Cut rusks that are a day old into slices one half inch thick, and dry them in a slow oven until a fine golden color.

BATH BUNS

• 4 cupfuls of flour.
• 1 cupful of milk.
• ½ cupful of sugar.
• ¼ cupful of butter.
• ½ teaspoonful of salt.
• ½ nutmeg grated.
• ½ compressed yeast-cake.
• 3 eggs.

Mix the salt, sugar, and grated nutmeg with the flour. Scald the milk and melt the butter in it. Dissolve the yeast in a quarter cupful of lukewarm water. When the scalded milk has become lukewarm, add to it the dissolved yeast and the eggs, which have been well beaten, the yolks and whites separately; then add the flour. Use more flour than given in the receipt, if necessary, but keep the dough as soft as possible. Knead it on a board for twenty minutes. Let it rise over night in a warm place, well covered. In the morning turn it on to the molding-board, roll it and rub it lightly with butter, then fold it several times, cut it into pieces the size of a large egg, and mold it into balls. The folding is to make it peel off in layers when baked, but may be omitted if desired. Press into the side of each bun, after it is molded, a piece of citron and lump of sugar wet with lemon-juice. Place the buns in a baking-tin and let them rise to more than double their size. Brush the tops with egg diluted with water to give a brown crust. Bake in a moderate oven for half an hour. When baked, brush over the tops with sugar dissolved in milk, and return to the oven for a few minutes to glaze. Sprinkle a little powdered sugar over the tops as soon as they are removed from the oven.

COFFEE CAKE

Take two cupfuls of bread sponge, add one egg well beaten, a half cupful of sugar, a tablespoonful of butter, and a cupful of tepid water. Mix them well together, then add enough flour to make a thin dough. Let it rise until double in size. Turn it on a board, and roll it out an inch thick. Place it in a baking-tin, cutting it to fit the tin, and let it rise again until light. Just before placing it in the oven, spread over the top an egg beaten with a teaspoonful of sugar. Sprinkle over this some granulated sugar, and a few split blanched almonds. If preferred, the dough may be twisted and shaped into rings instead of being baked in sheets. This cake, which is a kind of bun, is, as well as bath buns, a good luncheon dish to serve in place of cake; or either of them, served with a cup of chocolate, makes a good light luncheon in itself.

BRIOCHE

Brioche is a kind of light bun mixture much used in France. It has many uses, and is much esteemed. It will not be found difficult or troublesome to make after the first trial. The paste once made can be used for plain brioche cakes, buns, rings, baba, savarins, fruit timbales (see page 406), cabinet puddings, etc.

• 1 cake of compressed yeast.
• ¼ cupful of lukewarm water.
• 1 quart of flour.
• 7 eggs.
• ¾ pound of butter.
• ½ teaspoonful of salt.
• 2 teaspoonfuls of sugar.

Dissolve the yeast-cake in a quarter of a cupful of lukewarm water. Stir it so it will be thoroughly mixed, then add enough flour to make a very soft ball of paste. Drop this ball into a pan of warm water (the water must not be hot, or it will kill the yeast plant). Cover, and set it in a warm place to rise, which will take about an hour. This is for leaven to raise the brioche. The ball of paste will sink to the bottom of the water at first, but will rise to the top later, and be full of bubbles.

Put the rest of the flour on a platter, and make a well in the center of it. Into this well put the butter, salt, sugar, and four eggs. Break the eggs in whole, and have the butter rather soft. Work them together with the hand, gradually incorporating the flour, and adding two more eggs, one at a time. Work and beat it with the hand until it loses its stickiness, which will take some time. When the leaven is sufficiently light, lift it out of the water with a skimmer, and place it with the dough. Work them together, add one more egg, the last of the seven, and beat it for a long time, using the hand. The longer it is beaten the better and the finer will be the grain. Put the paste in a bowl, cover, and let it rise to double its size, which will take four to five hours; then beat it down again, and place it on the ice for twelve or twenty-four hours. As beating and raising the paste require so much time, the work should be started the day before it is to be used.

After taking the paste from the ice, it will still be quite soft, and have to be handled delicately and quickly. It softens more as it becomes warm.

TO MAKE A BRIOCHE ROLL WITH HEAD

Take up carefully a little of the paste, and turn it into a ball about three inches in diameter; flatten it a little on top, and with a knife open a little place on top, and lay a small ball of paste into it. Let it rise to double its size, and bake in a moderate oven for twenty to thirty minutes. If a glazed top is wanted, brush it over with egg yolk diluted one half with water, before putting it in the oven. Serve hot or perfectly fresh.

TO MAKE A BRIOCHE CROWN OR RING

Roll the paste into a ball, roll it down to a thickness of half an inch, keeping the form round. Cut it several times through the middle, and twist the paste into a rope-like ring. Let it rise, brush the top with egg, and bake in a well-heated oven for about half an hour.

TO MAKE BUNS

Roll the paste into small balls, glaze the tops when ready to go into the oven, and bake about twenty minutes.

BRIOCHE FOR TIMBALE, OR CABINET PUDDINGS

When the brioche is to be used for timbales, or cabinet puddings, turn the paste into a cylindrical mold, filling it half full. Let it rise to the top of the mold, and bake in a hot oven for about half an hour.

PANCAKES

The batter for pancakes should be smooth, and thin enough to run freely when turned onto the griddle. In order to have all the cakes of the same size an equal quantity of batter must be used for each cake. It should be poured steadily at one point, so the batter will flow evenly in all directions, making the cake perfectly round. An iron spoonful of batter makes a cake of good size; but if a larger one is wanted, use a ladle or cup; for if the batter is put on the hot griddle by separate spoonfuls, the first becomes a little hardened before the second is added, and the cake will not be evenly baked, or have so good an appearance. Lastly, the baking is of great importance. The cakes must be well browned on both sides, the color even and uniform on every part. To effect this the griddle must be perfectly clean and evenly heated. A soap-stone griddle is the best, as it holds the heat well, and as it requires no greasing. The cakes baked thus are by some considered more wholesome. The griddle should stand on the range for some time before it is needed in order to get thoroughly and evenly heated. Where an iron griddle is used, it should also be given time to become evenly heated, and while the cakes are baking it should be moved so the edges may in turn come over the hottest part of the range. It must be wiped off and greased after each set of cakes is baked. A piece of salt pork on a fork is the best thing for greasing, as it makes an even coating, and too much grease is not likely to be used. An iron griddle is often allowed by careless cooks to collect a crust of burned grease around the edges. When in this condition, the cakes will not, of course, be properly baked. The griddle should be hot enough to hiss when the batter is turned onto it. Serve the cakes as soon as baked, in a folded napkin on a hot plate. Two plates should be used, so while one is being passed the next griddleful may be prepared to serve.

PLAIN PANCAKES

Stir two cupfuls of milk into two beaten eggs; add enough flour to make a thin batter. Add a half teaspoonful of salt and a heaping teaspoonful of baking-powder. Sour milk can be used, in which case omit the baking-powder and add a half teaspoonful of soda. The baking-powder or soda should not be put in until just before beginning to bake the cakes. The cakes will be lighter and better if the eggs are beaten separately, and the whipped whites added the last thing.

FLANNEL CAKES

• 1 tablespoonful of butter.
• 1 tablespoonful of sugar.
• 2 eggs.
• 2 cupfuls of flour.
• Milk.
• 1 teaspoonful of baking-powder.

Rub the butter and sugar to a cream, add the beaten eggs, then the flour, in which the baking-powder has been sifted. Add enough milk to make a smooth, thin batter.

RICE PANCAKES

Make the same batter as for plain cakes, using half boiled rice and half flour. Any of the cereals—hominy, oatmeal, cracked wheat, etc.—can be used in the same way, utilizing any small quantities left over; a little butter is sometimes added.

BREAD PANCAKES

Soak stale bread in hot water until moistened; press out the water. To two cupfuls of softened bread, add two beaten eggs, a teaspoonful of salt, a half cupful of flour, and enough milk to make a thin, smooth batter; add, the last thing, a teaspoonful of baking-powder, or use soda if sour milk has been used in the batter.

CORNMEAL PANCAKES

Pour a little boiling water on a cupful of cornmeal, and let it stand half an hour. Add a teaspoonful of salt, a tablespoonful of sugar, one egg and two cupfuls of flour. Add enough milk to make a smooth batter, and a teaspoonful of baking-powder just before baking. Instead of white flour rye meal may be used: one cupful of rye to one of cornmeal, a tablespoonful of molasses instead of the sugar, and soda in place of baking-powder.

BUCKWHEAT CAKES

Scald a cupful of yellow meal in a quart of boiling milk. Add a half teaspoonful of salt; when cold add a quarter of a compressed yeast-cake, and enough buckwheat flour to make a soft batter. Beat it well together. Let it rise over night. In the morning stir in a tablespoonful of molasses and a teaspoonful of soda. Although the above method is the old and better way, these cakes can be made in the morning, and baking-powder used instead of yeast; in which case divide the batter, and add the baking-powder, one half at a time.

ADIRONDACK PANCAKES

Bake several pancakes as large as a plate. Butter, and cover them with maple syrup. Pile them one on another, and cut like a pie.

352-* Place the rolls far enough apart in the pan to give room for them to rise without running together.