Elements of the theory and practice of cookery

and the dough, to keep the latter from sticking. Should it stick to the board scrape it free with a dull knife, and flour the board anew. Knead the dough until it does not stick to your hands or the board, is smooth on the surface, feels spongy and elastic, and rises quickly after being indented. First rising. — Replace the dough-ball in the bowl, brush the top with water, cover the bowl with several thicknesses of cloth, and set it near the stove or in a pan of warm water, turning another pan over it. Second rising. — When the dough has risen to twice its original bulk, lift it on to the board and shape into small loaves, handling lightly and using little or no flour. Put into pans, and let it stand in a warm place covered with a thick, clean cloth, until it has again doubled in bulk. Baking. — When nearly risen, test the oven ; it should be hot enough to turn a piece of writing paper dark brown in six minutes. Bake small French loaves thirty-five minutes ; brick loaves, four inches thick, fifty to sixty minutes. Turn the pans if the bread does not bake evenly. Plain Bread Rolls, Finger Rolls, and Bread Sticks Shape these from white bread-dough after its first rising. For bread rolls, cut or pull off pieces the size of an egg ; draw up and pinch the edges together, forming balls ; then with your hand roll each into a cylindrical shape on the board. Put into French roll- pans, let rise until more than doubled in bulk, and bake 124 THEORY AND PRACTICE OF COOKERY from twelve to fifteen minutes. Or, put the balls on a flat pan, and when they have risen cut a cleft nearly an inch deep across the top of each one. Bake twelve to fifteen minutes. For finger rolls, roll pieces of dough half the size of an egg into cylinders five inches long. For bread sticks, roll out sticks of dough about half an inch thick and from six to ten inches long. Bake these and finger rolls ten minutes. The oven may be a little hotter for rolls than for loaves. (Plate VII, facing p. 102.) Whole-wheat Bread Flour, About 3 cupfuls. Lukewarm water, 1^ cupfuls. Compressed j^east, >^ cake. Salt, j4 teaspoonful. Mix the yeast smoothly with one-fourth of a cupful of the lukewarm water ; dissolve the salt in the rest of the water in a bowl ; stir the yeast into this ; and then stir in enough flour to make a drop-batter. Beat until the batter is full of bubbles (not less than five minutes), cover the bowl, and let the batter, or spoyige} rise until doubled in bulk. (See recipe for White Bread.) Beat in the rest of the flour, and knead for five minutes. ^ 1 Sponge is yeast-batter ; allowing it to rise before adding more flour is called "sponging" or "setting a sponge." Sponging makes bread finer-grained, but lengthens the time required to make bread with white flour, which needs two risings after the sponge has risen. Whole-wheat bread may be made without setting a sponge, but should then rise twice after being kneaded. 2 Whole-wheat dough, if made stiff enough for thorough kneading, is close and hard when baked. Beat it well, knead slightly, and mould while still somewhat sticky. BREAD 125 (For directions for kneading, see recipe for White Bread.) Mould into loaves, let rise in pans until again doubled in bulk, and bake like white bread. Whole- wheat rolls may be made like white-flour rolls.