14.—Muffins.
Sift through the sieve 4 lbs. of good Hungarian flour; take as much water and milk as will make the above into a nice-sized batter, having previously dissolved 2 ozs. of yeast, 1 oz. of sugar, and ¾ oz. of salt in the liquid; then beat this well with your hand for at least ten minutes; after it has half risen in your pan beat again for other ten minutes; then let it stand till ready, which you will know by the batter starting to drop. Have one of your roll-boards well dusted with sifted flour, and with your hand lay out the muffins in rows. The above mixture should produce 24 muffins. Then, with another roll-board slightly dusted with rice flour, take the muffins and with your fingers draw the outsides into the centre, forming a round cake; draw them into your hand and brush off any flour that may be adhering to them; place them on the board dusted with rice, and so on till all are finished; then put them in the prover to prove, which does not take long. The heat of the liquid for muffins (or crumpets) should range from 90° to 100° Fahr., according to the temperature of the bakehouse.
One great point to guard against in fermenting cakes or bread, is to see that your sponge or dough does not get chilled. By the time your muffins are ready, have the stove or hot plate properly heated, then row them gently on to the hot plate so as not to knock the proof out of them; when they are a nice brown turn them gently on the other side and bake a nice delicate brown.
15. Another way.—Some persons now make muffins after the same formula as for tea cakes, namely, moulding one in each hand and pinning out the size required, then proving and baking. I have tried that way more than once, but I cannot get the muffins to appear anything like what my experience teaches me a muffin should be. Practice and judgment are required to make one proficient in muffin-making.
There has recently been introduced to the trade a hot plate heated with gas, which will go a long way in helping the muffin-maker. It is both cleaner, handier, and you can bake with it to a more certain degree of heat.