Home › The Principles of Cookery › Wheat and Maize Bread

Wheat and Maize Bread

Mix seven pounds of Indian meal with double its weight in wheaten flour, and add four ounces of salt. Mix a pint and a half of fresh yeast with two quarts of boiling water. Make a hollow in the flour without touching the bottom of the bowl, pour in the yeast, and stir into it as much flour as will make a thin batter. Sprinkle flour lightly on the surface of the batter, cover the bowl, and leave it on the hearth for an hour. Stir into it two additional quarts of boiling water, cover it again, and let it stand in a warm place for ten hours. Knead thoroughly, gash the surface with a knife, and let the dough rise for a couple of hours longer till it is very light. Form into loaves, put these into tins, let them rise for half an hour longer, and bake in a good oven. If the crust is hard, wrap the loaves in a towel as soon as they are taken from the oven. Bread made in this way is inexpensive and wholesome. It has a peculiar flavour, which improves with acquaintance.