Note.--Sour milk may be made from fresh by keeping the milk some hours in a warm place, or, more quickly, by adding a little lemon-juice or vinegar to the amount of milk required.
RAISED BREAKFAST BREADS
Although many recipes included in this section may seem, at first glance, to be unsuitable for breakfast on account of the length of time taken for rising, there are ways in which the time can be considerably shortened.
A competent authority says that any mixture for rolls or m.u.f.fins can be made ready for its second rising at night, and kept over night in any place where the dough will not freeze, or where the temperature is not so high as to cause too rapid rising and consequent souring of the dough.
Moreover, rolls or m.u.f.fins may be baked in the afternoon until done thoroughly, but not brown, wrapped in a cloth, and put away in a cool place. In the morning, they need only to be rubbed with melted b.u.t.ter and set into a hot oven for a very few moments. They will come out crisp and flaky, and free from all objections on the score of indigestibility. Bread twice baked is always much more digestible than fresh bread.
Brioche, the most delicious of all hot breads, needs to stand in the refrigerator over night, and the second process is a quick one when the paste is once made. The paste will keep a week or more in a very cold place, and be the better for it. It is a French dough, for which many complicated recipes are given, but the following will be found satisfactory, and not difficult after one or two trials.
BRIOCHE PASTE
One cake of compressed yeast, a pinch of salt, one and one fourth cupfuls of b.u.t.ter, four cupfuls of flour, one tablespoonful of sugar, two tablespoonfuls of warm water, and seven eggs. Dissolve the yeast in the water, adding a little more water if necessary, and rubbing the yeast cake with a spoon until thoroughly dissolved. Stir in enough sifted flour to make a stiff dough, rolling and patting with the hands until thoroughly mixed. Drop this ball of paste into a kettle of warm water and let stand in a moderate temperature until it has a little more than doubled in bulk. (Some recipes for Brioche say that the ball of paste should be light enough to float.) Put the remainder of the four cupfuls of flour into a mixing bowl, add the sugar, salt, and b.u.t.ter, softened but not melted, and four of the eggs, unbeaten. With the hand mix carefully to a paste, beat smooth, and add the rest of the eggs, unbeaten, one at a time. Take the ball of paste, when light, out of the warm water with a skimmer, and, still using the hand, incorporate it carefully with the egg mixture, folding the two together as lightly as possible. Let rise, in a moderate temperature, until double in bulk. Then turn the paste on a floured board and pat and fold with the hands until smooth in texture and inclined to stay in shape. Let rise once more until very light, then put into the refrigerator and let stand over night.
BRIOCHE ROLLS
Roll a large lump of Brioche dough into a thin sheet on a floured board or pastry slab, working lightly and quickly, spread with softened b.u.t.ter, and fold so that the paste will be in three layers.
Cut in strips an inch wide and twist, working from the ends, and arrange in circles on a baking-sheet, the ends of the strips pointing inward. The rolls should be very close together in the pan. Beat the yolk of an egg, dilute it with as much milk, and brush the rolls with the mixture. Let them rise a few minutes, then bake about half an hour in a moderate oven. A little sugar and water may be spread over the tops if desired.
BRIOCHE BUNS
Shape the chilled paste into small b.a.l.l.s, and put a bit of citron or a few raisins on the top of each one. Let rise a few moments and bake half an hour in a moderate oven.
BRIOCHE BREAKFAST CAKE
b.u.t.ter a round cake-tin which has a tube in the centre, fill it half full of chilled Brioche paste, and let rise till the pan is two thirds full. Bake in a moderate oven and turn out. It should be torn apart with the fingers--not cut.
BATH BUNS
Dissolve a cake of yeast in two cupfuls of warm water. Add enough flour to make a moderately stiff sponge, let rise about two hours.
Cream together one half cupful each of b.u.t.ter and sugar, add one cupful of lukewarm milk, a pinch of salt, and two eggs, well beaten.
Mix with the sponge, let rise an hour longer, then knead, shape into buns, arrange close together in a baking-pan, and let rise till very light. Bake in a moderate oven.
"_Bath Bunny, Currant Bunny, sang a comic song, Bath Bunny, Currant Bunny, sang it loud and long; When his friends had told him that he gave them all a pain, Bath Bunny, Currant Bunny, sang it twice again._"
Louis Wain.
ENGLISH BATH BUNS
Dissolve half a cake of compressed yeast in one cupful of milk, and add two cupfuls of flour, or enough to make a sponge. Let rise until light, then add two thirds of a cupful of melted b.u.t.ter and four eggs, well beaten. Knead and let rise again for about an hour. Make into b.a.l.l.s the size of a small apple and press into each one some currants and bits of candied peel. Let rise ten or fifteen minutes in a warm place, sprinkle with sugar, and bake.
HOT CROSS BUNS
Rub one half cupful of b.u.t.ter into eight cupfuls of sifted flour, then add half a cake of compressed yeast dissolved in three cupfuls of scalded milk. Let rise two hours. Work into the sponge one cupful of sugar, one cupful of cleaned currants, and half a nutmeg grated.
Knead, shape into buns, arrange in pans, score deeply with a cross, brush with b.u.t.ter, and let rise fifteen minutes. Bake forty-five minutes in a brisk oven. This is the genuine English recipe, and the buns are good at any time, but the cross is made only on Good Friday, or for Easter.
RISEN MUSH m.u.f.fINS
One cupful of hominy, cerealine, corn-meal mush, oatmeal, rice, or other left-over cooked cereal, one teaspoonful of b.u.t.ter, one tablespoonful of sugar, one pinch of salt, one fourth of a cake of yeast (compressed) dissolved in one cupful of scalded milk, and two cupfuls of sifted flour. Mix thoroughly and let rise over night. In the morning, beat well and fill well-b.u.t.tered m.u.f.fin-pans half full.
Let rise until double in bulk, then bake half an hour.
FINGER ROLLS
Mix one cupful of scalded milk with one tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter. When cool, add a teaspoonful of sugar, a pinch of salt, and one half cake of yeast dissolved in half a cupful of warm water. Add enough flour to make a soft dough--about three cupfuls. Mix thoroughly, knead for fifteen minutes, and set to rise in a warm place for three or four hours. When light, knead again, shape into b.a.l.l.s, and roll into cylinders on a floured board, pointing the ends. Arrange in a shallow pan, and let rise until double in size--about an hour--glaze with beaten egg, and bake fifteen minutes in a hot oven.
SOUTHERN ROLLS
Six cupfuls of flour, two eggs, one cake of compressed yeast, one cupful of milk, two tablespoonfuls of lard, melted, and a teaspoonful of salt. Mix as other sponges, let rise five hours, knead, shape into rolls, let rise two hours longer, and bake about twenty minutes.
FRENCH ROLLS
Eight cupfuls of flour, four eggs, four teaspoonfuls of sugar, one tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter, one cake of compressed yeast dissolved in two cupfuls of milk. Mix like other sponges, let rise until light, knead, shape, let rise the second time, and bake in a moderate oven.
KENTUCKY ROLLS
Four cupfuls of flour, one tablespoonful of sugar, one teaspoonful of salt, two eggs, half a cupful of lard, and half a cake of compressed yeast. Mix the lard, sugar, and flour, then stir in the other ingredients, the yeast being dissolved in a little water, and add enough milk or warm water to make a thin batter. Let rise in a warm place, then add enough flour to make a stiff dough, and let rise again. When light, knead, shape, and put to rise for a third time.
Bake in a quick oven.
ALABAMA ROLLS
Rub two hot baked potatoes through a colander. Stir in one cupful of melted b.u.t.ter, two eggs well beaten, half a cake of compressed yeast, dissolved, and mixed with one cupful of sifted flour. Work with the hand into a smooth sponge, and let rise three hours. Then work into the sponge two cupfuls of sifted flour and let rise five hours longer.
Knead, make into roll shape, set to rise two hours more, and bake.
CORN ROLLS
To four cupfuls of well-salted hot corn-meal mush add one cupful of mixed b.u.t.ter and lard and half a cupful of sugar. When cool, add one cake of compressed yeast dissolved in a little warm water, and set to rise in a warm place. When light, work in enough sifted flour to make a stiff dough, knead thoroughly, and let rise again. Late at night, knead again and set in a cool place over night. In the morning, roll and cut out like biscuit. Spread half of each circle with softened b.u.t.ter and roll the other half over it. Let rise a few moments and bake. If the weather is very warm, add a teaspoonful of soda, dissolved in a little warm water, to the sponge.