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THE UNIVERSAL COOK-BOOK. 113

BREAD and BREAKFAST CAKES, BISCUIT

I and ROLLS.

"Here is bread which strengthens men's hearts, And therefore is called, ''The Staff of life.'"1 .

Good bread makes the homliest meal acceptable and the coarsest fare appetizing, while the most luxurious table is not even tolerable without it. Light crisp rolls for breakfast, spongy y sweet bread for dinner, and flaky biscuit for supper, cover a multitude of culinary sins : and there is no one thing on which the health of a family so much depends, as the quality of its home-made loaves. Three things are indispensable to success in bread making: good flour, good yeast and good judgment. The use of Gluten Bread is very healthful. Graham flour is made both from white and amber wheat, the former possesses more delicacy, the latter more gluten. For family use the F S White Wheat Graham is superior. It makes healthful and nutri- tious bread particularly for those troubled with indigestion.

Bread and biscuit should rise in a moderately warm place. If too cold it will be heavy ; if too hot it will be sour.

Should a batch of dough become sour, a teaspoonful of soda will help it, but this should be used only in an emergency.

To have your bread rise quickly, double the quantity of yeast but watch it ; do not let it sour.

H4 THE UNIVERSAL COOK-BOOK.

Bread should rise to twice its original size before it is ready to bake.

Bake small loaves rather than large ones. Do not have thej loaf too large for the pan ; it will be a bad shape.

Biscuit and rolls require a hotter oven than bread and a longer time to rise.

A little sugar or a little Cottolene mixed with the rising will keep bread moist.

Do not put a cloth around bread or biscuit if put in a tin box:

In using baking powder or other chemicals with salt, mix them thoroughly with the flour by twice putting all through the sievec together. An even teaspoonful of baking powder to a cupful oi> flour is a good proportion.

Two teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar and one teaspoonful oi> soda is equal to two teaspoonsfuls of baking powder. Always si/t your flour.

(Mrs. Webb.)

Boil 3 medium sized potatoes, mash smoothly, add i teacuptul sifted flour. Add the water in which the potatoes were boiledi1 When hot, beat thoroughly, then add i tablespoonful salt, i table- spoonful shortening and i pint cold water and l/2 cake com- pressed yeast. Add sufficient flour to thicken, knead at once, until it will not stick to the board. Raise in covered pan over: night. Iu the morning knead slightly and make into loaves. Raise double its size. Bake in moderate oven.

Compressed Teast Bread.

(Juliet Corson.)

When it is possible to obtain fresh compressed yeast, also called German yeast, an excellent bread can be made in about two hours and half; the rapidity of the leavening, or "raising," the dough is advantageous, because less of the nutritive elements

THE UNIVERSAL COOKBOOK. 115

of the flour are lost than by following the long process ; for two loaves of bread use 3 pounds of flour; about a quart of water ; 2 teaspoonfuls of salt, and an ounce of fresh compressed yeast ; dissolve the yeast in a pint of lukewarm water ; stir into it suffi- cient 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 about half an hour; then stir into it the salt, dissolved in 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 into buttered baking-pans, cover them with a folded towel, and set them in a warm place to rise twice their height ; then bake the loaves until each one is thoroughly done. In raising the sponge, be sure that the heat is not sufficient to " scald" or harden it, as that will pre- vent fermentation ; therefore do not place it where the hand can- not be held with comfort ; keep it covered from draughts. Add the rest of the flour.

The dough made for home-made bread can be baked as raised biscuit ; and it can be made a little nicer by kneading in with it a tablespoonful each of 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 Gouffe, the celebrated chef oi the Paris Jockey club; the "moderate oven" temperature is that degree of heat which will turn ordi- nary writing paper dark yellow or buff, that is, the color of kind- ling 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.

Premium Bread.

Take K milk and % water ; thicken with flour, and for 4

n6 THE UNIVERSAL, COOK-BOOK.

medium sized loaves use 3 tablespoon fuls of yeast; set it to rise, and when light mix stiff, adding butter the size of a black, wal- nut, and sufficient salt ; mould down two or three times thor- oughly before making into loaves ; then mould the loaves, and as soon as light bake 1 hour in a hot oven.

Teast for Above.

One quart water, 1 handful hops, 3 grated potatoes, medium sized, half cup sugar, half cup salt, and a teaspoonful of ground ginger. Boil the hops, strain, then add the other ingredients and boil for a couple of minutes.

Graham Bread No. 1.

One pint of water or milk, 1 yeast cake, or 1 cup of yeast. Wheat flour. About nine o'clock at night dissolve the yeast cake in the water, which should be lukewarm, and add enough wheat flour to form a stiff batter. Stir and beat the batter thor- oughly for 5 minutes, leaving it full of bubbles ; and set it in a warm place to rise. In the morning measure the following :

One cupful of molasses, 1 teaspoonful of soda, 2 teaspoonfuls salt. Graham flour. Dissolve the soda in a little cold water, slightly warm the molasses, and add it to the soda. Stir the salt into the sponge, and beat well with a strong spoon ; then put in the molasses and soda, and when these have been thoroughly in- corporated by beating, add Graham flour until a very thick mix- ture is formed. This is not to be kneaded like other kinds of yeast bread, but it should be so thick with Graham as to be diffi- cult to stir. Beat the batter well for three or four minutes, turn it into two well-greased tins, and set in a warm place ; and when the loaves have risen to be half again their original size, bake for an hour in a rather slow oven. The bread will not rise as rapidly as that made of wheat flour, as it has more body to carry. It is mixed so soft that the dough takes the form of the pans in which it is baked. The success of Graham bread de- pends largely upon thorough beating.

THE UNIVERSAL COOK-BOOK. 117

Rye or entire wheat may be used in place of Graham flour. Graham Bread No. 2.

(Miss Carrie Parker.)

One pint of warm milk, 1 teaspoonful salt, 2 tablespoonfuls sugar or molasses, % cake of compressed yeast, yz cup of warm water, i]/z cups of white flour, 3 cups of Graham flour. Proceed as in Graham bread No. I.

Boston Brown Bread.

(Mrs. A. G. Rogers.)

One quart of Indian meal, 1 quart rye meal, 1 cup molasses, 1 teaspoonful soda, salt to taste, \% quarts warm water. Bake or steam 5 hours — some people add raisins.

Plain Rolls.

One cup milk, scalded, 1 teaspoonful butter, 1 teaspoonful sugar, yz teaspoonful salt, % cake compressed yeast, %. cup warm water. Flour to stiffen.

Melt the butter and dissolve the sugar and salt in the hot milk. Soak the yeast in the water ; when dissolved and the milk is cool, put all together, and add about one and one-quarter cups of flour, or enough to make a . thick batter. Beat thoroughly, cover the bowl with plate and a cloth and place in a pan of warm water.

Let it rise about an hour, or until full of bubbles, then stir in flour enough to make a dough that can be shaped in the hand. Let it rise again, well covered, as before, and when it is light, cut it down. When it puffs up again turn it out onto the board, and knead it slightly. Pat it out a little with the rolling pin, and spread the surface with a tablespoonful of butter, softened. Fold it over toward the middle and knead it until no trace of the butter can be seen.

Divide it into portions the size of a small egg, and roll them

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