Part 13

Whole-wheat flour ferments more readily and rises more quickly than does white flour, hence bread made with it needs more careful management, as it is more liable to sour. The novice in bread-making should not undertake the preparation of bread with whole-wheat flour, until she has thoroughly mastered all the details of the art by practical experience, and can produce a perfect loaf from white flour.

Breads from whole-wheat and Graham flours require less yeast and less flour than bread prepared from white flour. A slower process of fermentation is also advantageous.

Such breads will be lighter if at least one third white flour be employed in their manufacture. When the bread is made with a sponge, this white flour may be utilised for the purpose. Thus the length of time the whole-wheat flour will be undergoing fermentation will be somewhat lessened, and its liability to become sour diminished. This plan is a preferable one for beginners in bread-making.

Graham and whole-wheat flour breads must be kneaded longer than white-flour bread, and require a hotter oven at first and a longer time for baking. Much Graham and whole-wheat bread is served insufficiently baked, probably owing to the fact that, being dark in color, the crust appears brown very soon, thus deluding the cook into supposing that the loaf is well baked. For thorough baking, from one to one and a half hours are needed, according to the size of the loaf and the heat of the oven.

TOAST.--Toasting, if properly done, renders bread more digestible, the starch being converted into dextrine by the toasting process; but by the ordinary method of preparing toast, that of simply browning each side, only the surfaces of the slices are really toasted, while the

## action of the heat upon the interior of the slice, it is rendered

exactly in the condition of new bread, and consequently quite as indigestible. If butter is added while the toast is hot, we have all the dyspepsia-producing elements of new bread and butter combined. Although considered to be the dish _par excellence_ for invalids, nothing could be more unwholesome than such toast. To properly toast the bread, the drying and browning should extend throughout the entire thickness of the slice. Bread may be thus toasted before an open fire, but the process would be such a lengthy and troublesome one, it is far better to secure the same results by browning the bread in a moderate oven.

Such toast is sometimes called _zwieback_ (twice baked), and when prepared from good whole-wheat bread, is one of the most nourishing and digestible of foods. Directions for its preparation and use will be found in the chapter on "Breakfast Dishes."

STEAMED BREAD.--Steaming stale bread is as open to objection as the surface toasting of bread, if steamed so as to be yielding and adhesive. It is not, perhaps, as unwholesome as new bread, but bread is best eaten in a condition dry and hard enough to require chewing, that its starch may be so changed by the action of the saliva as to be easily digested.

LIQUID YEAST.

_RECIPES._

RAW POTATO YEAST.--Mix one fourth of a cup of flour, the same of white sugar, and a teaspoonful of salt to a paste with a little water. Pare three medium-size, fresh, and sound potatoes, and grate them as rapidly as possible into the paste; mix all quickly together with a silver spoon, then pour three pints of boiling water slowly over the mixture, stirring well at the same time. If this does not rupture the starch cells of the flour and potatoes so that the mixture becomes thickened to the consistency of starch, turn it into a granite-ware kettle and boil up for a minute, stirring well to keep it from sticking and burning. If it becomes too much thickened, add a little more boiling water. It is impossible to give the exact amount of water, since the quality of the flour will vary, and likewise the size of the potatoes; but three pints is an approximate proportion. Strain the mixture through a fine colander into an earthen bread bowl, and let it cool. When lukewarm, add one cup of good, lively yeast. Cover with a napkin, and keep in a moderately warm place for several hours, or until it ceases to ferment. As it begins to ferment, stir it well occasionally, and when well fermented, turn into a clean glass or earthen jar. The next morning cover closely, and put in the cellar or refrigerator, not, however, in contact with the ice. It is best to reserve enough for the first baking in some smaller jar, so that the larger portion need not be opened so soon. Always shake the yeast before using.

RAW POTATO YEAST NO. 2.--This is made in the same manner as the preceding, with this exception, that one fourth of a cup of loose hops tied in a clean muslin bag, is boiled in the water for five minutes before pouring it into the potato and flour mixture. Many think the addition of the hops aids in keeping the yeast sweet for a longer period. But potato yeast may be kept sweet for two weeks without hops, if cared for, and is preferred by those who dislike the peculiar flavor of the bread made from hop yeast.

HOP YEAST.--Put half a cup of loose hops, or an eighth of an ounce of the pressed hops (put up by the Shakers and sold by druggists), into a granite-ware kettle; pour over it a quart of boiling water, and simmer about five minutes. Meanwhile stir to a smooth paste in a tin basin or another saucepan, a cup of flour, and a little cold water. Line a colander with a thin cloth, and strain the boiling infusion of hops through it onto the flour paste, stirring continually. Boil this thin starch a few minutes, until it thickens, stirring constantly that no lumps be formed. Turn it into a large earthen bowl, add a tablespoonful of salt and two of white sugar, and when it has cooled to blood heat, add one half cup of lively yeast, stirring all well together. Cover the bowl with a napkin, and let it stand in some moderately warm place twenty-four hours, or until it ceases to ferment or send up bubbles, beating back occasionally as it rises; then put into a wide-mouthed glass or earthen jar, which has been previously scalded and dried, cover closely, and set in a cool place. Yeast made in this manner will keep sweet for two weeks in summer and longer in winter.

BOILED POTATO YEAST.--Peel four large potatoes, and put them to boil in two quarts of cold water. Tie two loose handfuls of hops securely in a piece of muslin, and place in the water to boil with the potatoes. When the potatoes are tender, remove them with a perforated skimmer, leaving the water still boiling. Mash them, and work in four tablespoons of flour and two of sugar. Over this mixture pour gradually the boiling hop infusion, stirring constantly, that it may form a smooth paste, and set it aside to cool. When lukewarm, add a gill of lively yeast, and proceed as in the preceding recipe.

BOILED POTATO YEAST NO. 2.--To one teacupful of very smoothly mashed, mealy potato, add three teaspoonfuls of white sugar, one teaspoonful of salt, and one cup of lively yeast, or one cake of Yeast Foam, dissolved in a very little water. The potatoes should be warm, but not hot enough to destroy the yeast. Allow this to stand until light, when it is ready for use.

FERMENTED BREADS.

In the preparation of breads after the following recipes, the measure of flour should be heaping.

_RECIPES._

MILK BREAD WITH WHITE FLOUR.--Scald and cool on pint of unskimmed milk. Add to the milk when lukewarm, one fourth of a cup, or three tablespoonfuls, of liquid yeast, and three cups of flour. Give the batter a vigorous beating, turn it into a clean bread bowl or a small earthen crock, cover, and let it rise over night. In the morning, when well risen, add two or three cupfuls of warm flour, or sufficient to knead. Knead well until the dough is sufficiently elastic to rebound when struck forcibly with the fist. Allow it to rise again in mass; then shape into loaves; place in pans; let it stand until light, and bake. If undesirable to set the bread over night, and additional tablespoonfuls or two of cheese may be used, to facilitate the rising.

VIENNA BREAD.--Into a pint of milk sterilized by scalding, turn a cup and a half of boiling water. When lukewarm, add one half cup of warm water, in which has been dissolved a cake of compressed yeast, and a quart of white flour. Beat the batter thus made very thoroughly, and allow it to rise for one hour; then add white flour until the dough is of a consistency to knead. Knead well, and allow it to rise again for about three hours, or until very light. Shape into four loaves, handling lightly. Let it rise again in the pans, and bake. During the baking, wash the tops of the loaves with a sponge dipped in milk, to glaze them.

WATER BREAD.--Dissolve a tablespoonful of sugar in a pint of boiling water. When lukewarm, add one fourth of a cup full of liquid yeast, and sufficient flour to make a batter thick enough to drop from the spoon. Beat vigorously for ten minutes, turn into a clean, well-scalded bread bowl, cover (wrapping in a blanket if in cold weather), and let it rise over night. In the morning, when well risen, add flour to knead. Knead well for half an hour, cover, and let it become light in mass. When light, shape into loaves, allow it to rise again, and bake.

FRUIT ROLL.--Take some bread dough prepared as for Milk Bread, which has been sufficiently kneaded and is ready to mold, and roll to about one inch in thickness. Spread over it some dates which have been washed, dried, and stoned, raisins, currants, or chopped figs. Roll it up tightly into a loaf. Let and it rise until very light, and bake.

FRUIT LOAF.--Set a sponge with one pint of rich milk, one fourth cup of yeast, and a pint of flour, over night. In the morning, add two cups of Zante currents, one cup of sugar, and three cups of flour, or enough to make a rather stiff dough. Knead well, and set to rise; when light, mold into loaves; let it rise again, and bake.

POTATO BREAD.--Cook and mash perfectly smooth, potatoes to make a cupful. Add a teaspoonful of best white sugar, one cup and a half of warm water, and when the mixture is lukewarm, one half cup of yeast, prepared as directed for Boiled Potato Yeast No. 2, and flour to make a very thick batter. Allow it to rise over night. In the morning, add a pint of warm water and flour enough to knead. The dough will need to be considerably stiffer than when no potato is used, or the result will be a bread too moist for easy digestion. Knead well. Let it rise, mold into four loaves, and when again light, bake.

PULLED BREAD.--Remove a loaf from the oven when about half baked, and lightly pull the partially set dough into pieces of irregular shape, about half the size of one's fist. Do not smooth or mold the pieces; bake in a slow oven until browned and crisp throughout.

WHOLE WHEAT BREAD.--The materials needed for the bread are: one pint of milk, scalded and cooled, one quart of wheat berry flour, one pint Minnesota spring wheat flour, one third cup of a soft yeast, or one fourth cake of compressed yeast, dissolved in one third cup of cold water. Stir enough flour into the milk to make a stiff batter, put in the yeast, and let it rise until foamy. Have the milk so warm that, when the flour is put in, the batter will be of a lukewarm temperature. Wrap in a thick blanket, and keep at an equable temperature. When light, stir in, slowly, warm flour to make a soft dough. Knead for fifteen minutes, and return to the bowl (which has been washed and oiled) to rise again. When risen to double its size, form into two loaves, place in separate pans, let rise again, and bake from three fourths to one and one half hours, according to the heat of the oven.

WHOLE-WHEAT BREAD NO. 2.--Scald one pint of unskimmed milk; when lukewarm, add one half cup of liquid yeast, or one fourth cake of compressed yeast, dissolved in one half cup of warm water, and a pint of Pillsbury's best white flour. Beat this batter thoroughly, and allow it to rise. When well risen, add three and two thirds cups of wheat berry flour. Knead thoroughly, and allow it to become light in mass; then shape into two loaves, allow it to rise again, and bake.

MISS. B'S ONE-RISING BREAD.--Sift and measure three and three fourths cups of wheat berry flour. Scald and cool a pint of unskimmed milk. When lukewarm, add one tablespoonful of lively liquid yeast. By slow degrees add the flour, beating vigorously until too stiff to use a spoon, then knead thoroughly for half an hour, shape into a loaf, place in a bread pan, cover with a napkin in warm weather, wrap well with blankets in cold weather, and let rise over night. In the morning, when perfectly light, pat in a well heated oven, and bake.

POTATO BREAD WITH WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR.--Take a half gill of liquid yeast made as for Boiled Potato Yeast No. 2, and add milk, sterilised and cooled to lukewarm, to make a pint. And one cup of well-mashed, mealy potato and one cup of white flour, or enough to make a rather thick batter Beat thoroughly, cover, and set to rise. When well risen, add sufficient whole-wheat flour to knead. The quantity will vary somewhat with the brand of flour used, but about four and one fourth cupfuls will in general be needed. Knead well, let it rise in mass and again in the loaf, and bake.

RYE BREAD.--Prepare a sponge over night with white flour as for Water Bread. In the morning, when light, add another tablespoonful of sugar, and rye flour to knead. Proceed as directed for the Water Bread, taking care to use only enough rye flour to make the dough Just stiff enough to mold. Use white flour for dusting than kneading board, as the rye flour is sticky.

GRAHAM BREAD.--Take two tablespoonfuls of lively liquid yeast, or a little less than one fourth cake of compressed yeast, dissolved in a little milk, and add new milk, scalded and cooled to lukewarm, to make one pint. Add one pint of white flour, beat very thoroughly, and set to rise. When very light, add three find one half cupfuls of sifted Graham flour, or enough to make a dough that can be molded. Knead well for half an hour. Place in a clean, slightly oiled bread bowl, cover, and allow it to rise. When light, shape into a loaf: allow it to rise again, and bake.

GRAHAM BREAD NO. 2.--Mix well one pint of white and two pints of best Graham flour. Prepare a batter with a scant pint of milk, scalded and cooled, two table spoonfuls of liquid yeast, or a little less than one fourth of a cake of compressed yeast, dissolved in two table spoonfuls of milk, and a portion of the mixed flour. Give it a vigorous beating, and put it in a warm place to rise. When well risen, add more flour to make a dough sufficiently stiff to knead. There will be some variation in the amount required, dependent upon the brands of flour used, but in general, two and one half pints of the flour will be enough for preparing the sponge and kneading the dough. Knead thoroughly for twenty-five or thirty minutes. Put into a clean and slightly oiled bread bowl, cover, and set to rise again. When double its first bulk, mold into a loaf; allow it to rise again, and bake.

GRAHAM BREAD NO. 3.--Mix three pounds each of Graham and Minnesota spring wheat flour. Make a sponge of one and a half pints of warm water, one half cake compressed yeast, well dissolved in the water, and flour to form a batter. Let this rise. When well risen, add one and a half pints more of warm water, one half cup full of New Orleans molasses, and sufficient flour to knead. Work the bread thoroughly, allow it to rise in mass; then mold, place in pans, and let it rise again. The amount of material given is sufficient for four loaves of bread.

RAISED BISCUIT.--These may be made from dough prepared by any of the preceding recipes for bread. They will be more tender if made with milk, and if the dough is prepared expressly for biscuits, one third cream may be used. When the dough has been thoroughly kneaded the last time, divide into small, equal-sized pieces. A quantity of dough sufficient for one loaf of bread should be divided into twelve or sixteen such portions. Shape into smooth, round biscuits, fit closely into a shallow pan, and let them rise until very light. Biscuit should be allowed to become lighter than bread before putting in the oven, since, being so much smaller, fermentation is arrested much sooner, and they do not rise as much in the oven as does bread.

ROLLS.--Well kneaded and risen bread dough is made into a variety of small forms termed rolls, by rolling with the hands or with a rolling-pin, and afterward cutting or folding into any shape desired, the particular manner by which they are folded and shaped giving to the rolls their characteristic names. Dough prepared with rich milk or part cream makes the best rolls. It may be divided into small, irregular portions, about one inch in thickness, and shaped by taking each piece separately in the left hand, then with the thumb and first finger of the right hand, slightly stretch one of the points of the piece and draw it over the left thumb toward the center of the roll, holding it there with the left thumb. Turn the dough and repeat the operation until you have been all around the dough, and each point has been drawn in; then place on the pan to rise. Allow the rolls to become very light, and bake. Rolls prepared in this manner are termed _Imperial Rolls_, and if the folding has been properly done, when well baked they will be composed of a succession of light layers, which can be readily separated.

_French Rolls_ may be made by shaping each portion of dough into small oval rolls quite tapering at each end, allowing them to become light, and baking far enough apart so that one will not touch another.

If, when the dough is light and ready to shape, it be rolled on the board until about one eighth of an inch in thickness, and cut into five-inch squares, then divided through the center into triangles, rolled up, beginning with the wide side, and placed in the pan to rise in semicircular shape, the rolls are called _Crescents_.

What are termed _Parker House Rolls_ may be made from well-risen dough prepared with milk, rolled upon the board to a uniform thickness of about one forth inch; cut into round or oval shapes with the cutter; folded, one third over the other two thirds; allowed to rise until very light, and baked.

The light, rolled dough, may be formed into a _Braid_ by cutting into strips six inches in length and one in width, joining the ends of each three, and braiding.

The heat of the oven should be somewhat greater for roils and biscuit than for bread. The time required will depend upon the heat and the size of the roll, but it will seldom exceed one half hour. Neither rolls nor biscuits should be eaten hot, as they are then open to the same objections as other new yeast bread.

BROWN BREAD.--To one and one fourth cups of new milk which has been scalded and cooled, add one fourth of a cup of lively yeast, three tablespoonfuls of sugar, and one cup each of white flour, rye flour or sifted rye meal, and yellow corn meal. With different brands of flour there may need to be some variation in the quantity of liquid to be used. The mixture should be thick enough to shape. Allow it to rise until light and cracked over the top; put into a bread pan, and when again well risen, bake for an hour and a half or two hours in an oven sufficiently hot at first to arrest fermentation and fix the bread cells, afterwards allowing the heat to diminish somewhat, to permit a slower and longer baking. Graham flour may be used in place of rye, if preferred.

DATE BREAD.--Take a pint of light white bread sponge prepared with milk, add two tablespoons of sugar, and Graham flour to make a very stiff batter. And last a cupful of stoned dates. Turn into a bread pan. Let it rise, and bake.

FRUIT LOAF WITH GRAHAM AND WHOLE-WHEAT FLOUR.--Dissolve one fourth cake of compressed yeast in a pint of sterilized milk; and a pint of white flour; heat thoroughly, and set to rise. When well risen, add three and one fourth cups of flour (Graham and whole-wheat, equal proportions, thoroughly mixed), or sufficient to knead. Knead well for half an hour, and just at the last add a cup of raisins, well washed, dried, and dusted with flour. Let the loaf rise in mass; then shape, put in the pan, allow it to become light again, and bake.

RAISED CORN BREAD.--Into two cupfuls of hot mush made from white granular corn meal, stir two cupfuls of cold water. Beat well, and add one half cup of liquid yeast, or one half cake of compressed yeast, dissolved in one half cup of warm water, and two teaspoonfuls of granulated sugar. Stir in white or sifted Graham flour to make it stiff enough to knead. Knead very thoroughly, and put in a warm place to rise. When light, molded into three loaves, put into pans, and allow it to rise again. When well risen, bake at least for three fourths of an hour.

CORN CAKE.--Sterilise a cupful of rich milk or thin cream. Cool to lukewarm, and dissolve in it half a cake of compressed yeast Add two small cupfuls of white flour; beat very thoroughly, and put in a warm place to rise. When light, add a cup of lukewarm water or milk, and two cups of best yellow cornmeal. Turn into a shallow square pan, and leave until again well risen. Bake in a quick oven. A tablespoonful of sugar may be added with the corn meal, if desired.

OATMEAL BREAD.--Mix a quart of well-cooked oatmeal mush with a pint of water, beating it perfectly smooth; add a cupful of liquid yeast and flour to make a stiff batter. Cover, and let it rise. When light, add sufficient flour to mold; knead as soft as possible, for twenty or thirty minutes; shape into four or more loaves, let it rise again, and bake.