Potato Bread.
1 quart of flour.
1/2 pint of boiling water, generous measure.
1/4 cake of compressed yeast, or 1/2 gill of liquid yeast.
1 potato.
1/2 teaspoonful of salt.
1 tablespoonful of sugar.
1 tablespoonful of butter or lard.
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.