Middle class cookery book

The above are general directions ; certain flours (generally the best) absorb more water than others, and the cook must learn by experience the proper consist- ency of the dough. If brewer’s yeast is used, the dough may stand all night in a warm place. Wheat Meal Bread 3 lbs. Wheat Meal I 1 Heaped Dessertspoonful Salt 1 i oz. German Yeast | 1 1 Pint Tepid Water 1 Dessertspoonful Castor Sugar Mix the meal with the salt in a large bowl ; cream the sugar and yeast together ; add the water to the yeast ; make a hole in the middle of the flour ; pour in the yeast and water ; make a thick batter in the middle of the meal, leaving the meal round the sides of the hole dry ; sprinkle a little meal over the batter ; cover the bowl with a cloth, and set the meal in a warm place to rise. When the covering of dry meal sprinkled on the top is broken through, mix all the meal and yeast together ; put a little meal on a board ; turn the dough on to it, and knead it to a stiff dough. Make it into small loaves; put them on a baking-sheet; cover them with a cloth ; set them again to rise. When risen, bake them in a hot oven for twenty or thirty minutes. The time the dough will take to rise depends on the warmth of the place where it is made. CHAP. XIV BREAD, ETC. 176 Milk Rolls £ lb. Flour I 1 Gill Milk 2 oz. Salt Butter I 1 Teaspoonful Baking Powder Rub the flour and butter lightly together with the tips of the Augers ; add the baking powder ; gradually stir in enough milk to make it a stiff dough. Take rough lumps and place them on a floured flat tin. Bake in a quick oven till ready (about twenty minutes) ; place on a sieve to cool. This makes about eight rolls. If preferred, the dough may be rolled into small oval shapes, and brushed with milk, or with a slightly beaten egg, to give them a glazed appearance. These rolls must be made as quickly as possible, in order to be light. Sally Lunns f lb. Flour 2 oz. Salt Butter £ ,, German Yeast 1 Dessertspoonful Sugar 1 Egg 1£ Gill Milk £ oz. Butter (for greasing) Pinch of Salt Warm the milk and butter in a pan together till the butter is melted, but not hot. Rub the yeast smooth with the sugar ■ add the milk and butter. Stir this mixture gradually into the flour ; add the egg slightly beaten ; mix till quite smooth. Divide into two, and put into well-buttered tins ; set these in a warm but not too hot place for an hour, to rise. Then put into a quick oven till baked, about fifteen minutes. Soda Scones £ lb. Flour £ Teaspoonful Carbonate of Sola £ ,, Cream of Tartar 1 Gill Buttermilk or Siam Milk £ Teaspoon ful Salt Mix the dry materials well together in a basin ; stir in enough buttermilk to make a stiff but elastic dough. Turn it out on a floured board ; knead it lightly till it 176 MIDDLE CLASS COOKERY BOOK PART 11 no longer sticks to your bands ; roll out thin ; cut it out in small rounds with a tumbler or tin cutter. Bake them on a tin in a hot oven for about five minutes. When they are risen and the surface is smooth, turn and cook for five minutes longer. They should be a very pale colour. Or put them on a hot girdle and cook first on one side and then on the other, as in the oven. Serve hot or cold. Sugar may be used instead of salt, and they may be made richer by rubbing 1 oz. butter or dripping into the flour before the buttermilk is added. Tea Cakes