Miss Corson's practical American cookery and household management

an ounce of fresh compressed yeast ; dissolve the yeast in a pint of lukewarm water ; stir into it sufficient flour to make a thick batter; cover the bowl containing the batter or sponge with a folded towel, and set it in a warm place to rise ; if properly covered and heated, it will rise to a light foam in half an hour ; then stir into it the salt dissolved iii a little warm water, add the rest of the flour, and sufficient lukewarm water to make a dough stiff enough to knead ; knead it five minutes, divide it into two loaves, put them in floured baking-pans, cover them with a folded towel, and set them in a warm place to rise twice their height ; then bake them as directed in the preceding recipe. In raising the sponge, be sure that the heat is not sufficient to " scald " or harden it, as that will prevent fermentation ; therefore do not place it where the hand cannot be held with comfort; keep it covered from draughts. If when it is light it has become at all soured, as it sometimes will in summer, stir into it, before adding the balance of the flour, a saltspoonful of baking-soda dissolved in a very little water. The dough made for home-made bread can be baked as raised biscuit by kneading in with it a little sugar and melted butter, or it can be boiled in soups and stews as raised dumplings. To test the heat of the oven, follow the method of Jules Gouffé, the celebrated chef of the Paris Jockey Club : the "moderate oven" temperature is that degree of heat which will turn ordinary writing-paper dark yellow or buff, that is, the color of kindling-wood; put a sheet of paper in the oven, and close the door ; if the paper blazes, the oven is too hot ; arrange the dampers to lower the heat for ten minutes, then again test it with more paper ; it may be necessary to try the temperature several times, but the time thus used is well spent. BREAKFAST ROLLS. In the middle of the afternoon bake two large white potatoes, and mash them perfectly smooth before they cool ; add to the mashed potato two tablespoonfuls of white sugar and a cupful each of flour and lukewarm water, and beat the mixture for five minutes, or until it foams ; meantime dissolve half a small cake of compressed yeast in a gill of lukewarm water, and add it to the sponge when it foams, or use instead a gill of home-made yeast ; cover the bowl containing the sponge with a thick towel folded several times, and set it where no draught of air can strike it. Just before bedtime put the sponge into a bread mixing-bowl with four quarts of sifted flour, a level tablespoonful of salt, a small cupful of sugar, and four tablespoonfuls of lard or butter chopped or rubbed into the flour; add enough lukewarm water to make a dough stiff enough to knead, and knead it for half an hour, using flour enough to prevent the dough sticking to the hands or the board. When the dough is smooth and shining, put it into a buttered bowl or pan large enough for it to double its volume in rising; butter the top of the dough, cover the bowl with a folded towel, and set it in a place free from draughts in summer, and in cold weather near enough to the fire to prevent any chilling of the dough.