The Apsley cookery book

Mix the flour with a quarter of a pint of cold water to a smooth paste. Add the whites of the eggs beaten to a stiff froth, and stir very lightly. Add the sugar last. It is then ready for use. 385. Bread. Ingredients. Four pounds two ounces of Flour. Three-quarters of an ounce of Yeast. One pint and three-quarters of Water. A quarter of an ounce of Salt. An American bread-mixer should be used in making this bread. (See “ Hints on Cooking.”) Best seconds flour is better than superfine flour. The water must be warm, but not too hot to bear the hand in. Mix the yeast smoothly with the water, pouring in a little at a time until it is all used ; add the salt, and stir all well together. Pour the liquid into the bread-mixer. Now add the flour, which must be sifted. Fasten the top on the mixer, and turn the handle for exactly three minutes. Remove the cover, and have ready a wellfloured pastry-board. Take a large knife and remove the dough from the central screw, divide it into four equal parts, and place each part in a well-greased breadtin. Let the tins stand in a warm place for one hour to rise. The plate rack above an ordinary kitchen stove is a good place. Then put them in a very moderately heated oven, and after the first twenty minutes increase the heat until it is hot, but not so hot as is required for pastry. The loaves must bake for one hour. Bread is much better baked in tins ; but if tins are not used, the dough must be divided into four, and formed into round cakes and placed on the oven shelves, which must be first floured. Three-quarters of an hour to rise, and the same time to bake, will then be quite long enough. Great care should be taken in weighing and measuring the quantities, 386. Bread-Raspings (to Prepare). All pieces of bread should be put aside in a clean bowl, and when enough has been saved to fill a goodsized baking-tin, they should be baked in a slow oven until they are a rich golden colour all through. They should then be rolled on a pastry-board — a small quantity at a time — until they are fine enough for use, and then put into a biscuit-box with a well-fitting lid, which should be kept in a dry place. These raspings are used in many recipes for both sweet and savoury dishes, and a good supply should always be kept in hand. They are not only better and more easily digested than ordinary bread-crumbs for many dishes, but they are much more economical, and are the means of every scrap of bread being utilised. As the rolling would scratch and dent the board and rolling-pin used for pastry — and it is necessary to keep them perfectly smooth — a special rolling-pin and board should be kept for this purpose. 387. Bread (Sultana). Ingredients. Half a pound of Sultanas. I One large tablespoonful of Dough. I castor Sugar. To make a very good sultana bread take a quarter of the dough — made according to preceding recipe — and put it to rise with the loaves ; and then, before putting it into a tin, work the sultanas and sugar into it. The sultana loaf must be baked exactly like the other bread, 388. Croutons. Ingredients. Bread. | Salad Oil, or Albene.