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The confectioner's and pastry-cook's guide, or, Confectionery made easy ...

1890

Page 47 · 1 recipe record on this page

Presented as published in 1890. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
Loaves will require about an hour and a half in a hot ovenj but cakes will not require more than an hour. If you live near a baker’s, it would be better to send your bread to him to bake, as a baker’s oven has a more steady and regular heat than can be had in an oven by the side of the fire in a range. The process of moulding, as the rolling out and doub- ling over is called, must be done as quickly as possible, as all the time you are doing it, the dough is rising, and will, if you are too long, weaken it, and make the bread heavy. , HOUSEHOLD BREAD. Put into a clean pan, or a -wooden trough, not too deep, a bushel of flour, and make a hole in the middle of it; then mix, in another pan, a pint of brewer’s yeast with a pint of warm water and a quarter of a pound of saltHousehold Bread, and strain it through a sieve ; then mix a little 92 CONFECTIONARY flour with the yeast and water, to make it to the con- sistence of batter. Pour this ferment into the hole in the flour, sprinkle a little of the dry flour over the top of it, and cover it with a cloth, to keep the cold air from it; set it in a moderately warm place to rise. When the sponge, as this is called, has risen, which will be seen by the flour on the top cracking, the whole of the mass is to be mixed together with enough water, rather warm, added a little at a time, to make it into dough, neither too stiff nor too slack. The quantity of water required cannot be here told, as different kinds of flour absorb very different quantities of water ; but expe- rience will soon show how much will be sufficient. The quality of the bread greatly depends on the dough being thoroughly kneaded, so that every particle of the flour may be mixed up with the ferment, and be a compact and moist body. In kneading the dough, you will find that it will hang to the fingers and round the sides of the pan or trough, at first ; this is easily removed by rubbing on a little dry flour; but when it feels tough and springy, and bears the impression of the hand, the dough is kneaded enough. You must now make it into one lump, and leave it in the middle of the pan or trough, with a little flour sprinkled over the top, to rise still more. This it will generally do in about half an hour. Now, with all possible speed cut the dough into pieces, and sprinkling the board or table on which you mould your dough with a little flour, to prevent its sticking, proceed to mould up your loaves into the required shape and size. Do this quickly, or the bread will be heavy. When moulded, put them on the peel and place them in the oven, close together, unless you wish to have crusty loaves, if you do, they must be set a little way apart. Large loaves will require about two hours baking; but small loaves will not require more than an hour, or an hour and a half, according to their size. When done, draw them with your peel, and turn the loaves bottom upwards, to cool gradually. MADE EASY. 93 TO PREVENT YEAST TASTING BITTER. If you use brewer’s yeast, and it should be bitter, you should put about half the quantity of water that you have of yeast, and strain all through a hair sieve half fuil of bran, two or three times; this will take all the bitter taste away. srons. PIES AND PUDDINGS. PiOB Pies, to make- apple 30 ditto, creamed . . . . 30 beef-steak 17 chicken 19 cel 19 fruit, large 29