Bread Made with Dry Yeast.
For three Loaves.
2 quarts of flour.
1-1/4 pints (2-1/2 cupfuls) of blood-warm water.
2 tablespoonfuls of butter or lard.
1 yeast cake.
1 tablespoonful of sugar.
1 teaspoonful of salt.
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.