one whose time is of any value can afford to dabble with dry yeast cakes or any of the other ferments. They generally cost a hundred fold more than com- pressed yeast by annoying the user, by robbing the flour of nutrition, and by yielding inferior bread. How much is gained in a baking by using one cent's worth of common yeast and losing four cents' worth of nutritive matter from the flour, over using four cents' worth of compressed yeast and retaining all the nutrition in the bread ? The liability of compressed yeast to spoil in a short time by exposure is an objection that is frequently made to its use. But a similar objection can, with equal propriety, be made to the use of fresh fish, fowl, and flesh generally. And as a large proportion of so-called perishable articles of food require greater care for their perfect preservation than compressed yeast, this objec- tion is more imaginary than real. As long as com- pressed yeast remains firm and has an alcoholic smell it can be depended upon to give better results than dry yeast cakes or liquid yeast ; but the fresher it can be had the better it is for bread-making, and in localities where it is readily attainable housekeepers should always get it as fresh as possible. Given good flour and good yeast any one should be able to make good bread. For the only other ingredi- ents needed are a little salt and suflicient wetting to mix the flour into a dough of the proper consistency. And the wetting may be either water, or milk, or milk and water — provided always the milk is sweet. Bread mixed with water alone is tougher and sweeter, and will Bread- Making. 189 keep moist longer than bread mixed with milk and water, or with milk alone. French bread is mixed with water alone, Vienna bread is mixed with milk and water in equal proportions, and several varieties of bread are mixed with milk alone. Comparatively good bread can be made with liquid yeast, or even with dry yeast cakes if fresh and sweet ; but the best quality of bread can be made only with compressed yeast. And bread can be made so much easier with compressed yeast than with either liquid yeast or dry yeast cakes, that no housekeeper who can get compressed yeast can afford to use any other kind. Compressed Yeast Bread. — To each pint of luke- warm wetting, composed of equal portions of sweet milk and water, add a teaspoonful of salt and one half- ounce cake of compressed yeast dissolved in about three tablespoonfuls of cold water, then stir in flour with a spoon until a dough is formed✪ Compressed Yeast Bread sufficiently stifl" to be turned from the mixing bowl in a mass. Put this dough on a molding board, and knead well, adding flour until it ceases to stick to the fingers or the molding board, then put it in a well-greased earthen bowl, brush the surface lightly with melted butter or drippings to keep it from crusting over, cover it with a bread towel, set to rise, and let stand for three hours, at a temperature of seventy-five degrees. At the end of that time form into loaves or rolls, put into greased pans, brush the surface with melted butter or drippings, cover as before, and again set to rise for an hour, at the same tempera- ture, then bake. Dough when light enough to bake should be double 190 The Art of Cookery.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

one whose time is of any value can afford to dabble with dry yeast cakes or any of the other ferments. They generally cost a hundred fold more than compressed yeast by annoying the user, by robbing the flour of nutrition, and by yielding inferior bread. How much is gained in a baking by using one cent's worth of common yeast and losing four cents' worth of nutritive matter from the flour, over using four cents' worth of compressed yeast and retaining all the nutrition in the bread ? The liability of compressed yeast to spoil in a short time by exposure is an objection that is frequently made to its use. But a similar objection can, with equal propriety, be made to the use of fresh fish, fowl, and flesh generally. And as a large proportion of so-called perishable articles of food require greater care for their perfect preservation than compressed yeast, this objection is more imaginary than real. As long as compressed yeast remains firm and has an alcoholic smell it can be depended upon to give better results than dry yeast cakes or liquid yeast ; but the fresher it can be had the better it is for bread-making, and in localities where it is readily attainable housekeepers should always get it as fresh as possible. Given good flour and good yeast any one should be able to make good bread. For the only other ingredients needed are a little salt and sufficient wetting to mix the flour into a dough of the proper consistency. And the wetting may be either water, or milk, or milk and water — provided always the milk is sweet. Bread mixed with water alone is tougher and sweeter, and will Bread- Making. 189 keep moist longer than bread mixed with milk and water, or with milk alone. French bread is mixed with water alone, Vienna bread is mixed with milk and water in equal proportions, and several varieties of bread are mixed with milk alone. Comparatively good bread can be made with liquid yeast, or even with dry yeast cakes if fresh and sweet ; but the best quality of bread can be made only with compressed yeast. And bread can be made so much easier with compressed yeast than with either liquid yeast or dry yeast cakes, that no housekeeper who can get compressed yeast can afford to use any other kind. Compressed Yeast Bread. — To each pint of lukewarm wetting, composed of equal portions of sweet milk and water, add a teaspoonful of salt and one half-ounce cake of compressed yeast dissolved in about three tablespoonfuls of cold water, then stir in flour with a spoon until a dough is formed sufficiently stiff to be turned from the mixing bowl in a mass. Put this dough on a molding board, and knead well, adding flour until it ceases to stick to the fingers or the molding board, then put it in a well-greased earthen bowl, brush the surface lightly with melted butter or drippings to keep it from crusting over, cover it with a bread towel, set to rise, and let stand for three hours, at a temperature of seventy-five degrees. At the end of that time form into loaves or rolls, put into greased pans, brush the surface with melted butter or drippings, cover as before, and again set to rise for an hour, at the same temperature, then bake. Dough when light enough to bake should be double 190 The Art of Cookery.

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Compressed Yeast Bread

The art of cookery