To 1½ cups of luke-warm potato water was added 1 teaspoonful of sugar, 1 cake of yeast; when dissolved, add 1½ cups of white bread flour. Beat all together well, stand closely-covered in a warm place until the following morning. From one cup of this sponge was made one oatmeal loaf, and to the other cup of sponge white flour was added for a loaf of white bread or rolls.
AUNT SARAH'S WHITE BREAD (SPONGE METHOD)
Prepare the following "Yeast Sponge" at noon, the day preceding that on which you bake bread: Place in a bowl (after the mid-day meal) 1 quart of potato water (containing no salt), in which potatoes were boiled; also two medium-sized, finely-mashed potatoes, 1 tablespoonful of sugar and, when luke warm, add 1 cup of good home-made or baker's yeast. Mix all well together; then divide this mixture and pour each half into each of two 1-quart glass fruit jars. Place covers tightly on jars and shake each jar well, to mix yeast and potato-water thoroughly. Stand yeast in a warm place near the kitchen range over night. Jars should be covered only with a napkin. The sponge should become light and foamy. In the morning use this freshly-prepared yeast to set sponge for bread.
When preparing to set bread, place in a large bowl 1 pint of potato water, 1 tablespoonful of sugar, 1 pint of the yeast sponge, ½ teaspoonful of salt, and use about 3 pounds of sifted flour, well-dried and warmed. Knead from 15 to 20 minutes, until a stiff dough is formed. The dough should be fine-grained and elastic and not stick to bake board. Place dough in the bowl to rise; this should lake about four hours. When well-risen and light knead down and set to rise again, about 1½ hours. When light, mold into three large, shapely loaves; place in pans and allow to stand one hour. When loaves have doubled in bulk, are very light and show signs of cracking, invert a pan over top of loaves (if that was not done when loaves were put in pans), and place in a rather hot oven to bake. Brush melted butter over loaves of bread when set to rise, it will cause bread to have a crisp crust when baked. The old-fashioned way of testing the heat of an oven was to hold the hand in the oven, if possible, while one counted thirty.
The pint of yeast remaining in jar may be kept in a cool place one week, and may be used during this time in making fresh "yeast foam." This should always be prepared the day before baking bread. Always prepare double the quantity of "yeast foam." Use half to set bread, and reserve half for next baking. Bread baked from this recipe has frequently taken first prize at County Fairs and Farmers' Picnics.
When baking bread, the oven should be quite hot when bread is first placed therein, when the bread should rise about an inch; then the heat of the oven should he lessened and in a half hour a brown crust should begin forming; and during the latter part of the hour (the time required for baking an ordinary-sized loaf) the heat of the oven should be less, causing the bread to bake slowly. Should the heat of the oven not be great enough, when the loaves are placed within for baking, then poor bread would be the result. This method of making bread will insure most satisfactory results, although more troublesome than ordinary methods.