Velvet Rolls
Three pints of flour. Two eggs. One teacup of sweet milk. One teacup of yeast. 1 tablespoonful of lard, and the same of butter.
Mix well and beat the dough till it blisters.
Let it rise, work in a small quantity of flour, beat as before and make into rolls. After the second rising, bake quickly.--Mrs. Dr. S.
A late-19th-century Virginia roll built on liquid homemade yeast and a dough beaten rather than kneaded. Two things need translating before it will work: the yeast and the word "beat."
- Beat till it blistersThis is the hinge. The dough is soft and wet, and it is worked with a spoon or the hand until the surface breaks into shiny blisters, which is simply gluten development by another route. In a stand mixer with the paddle, five to eight minutes on medium gets you there; the dough should pull away in stretchy sheets.
- One teacup of yeastThis means liquid yeast kept going in the kitchen, closer in kind to a sourdough starter than to modern dried yeast, though its strength varied. About 2 teaspoons of instant yeast will leaven three pints of flour; add the 6 fl oz of liquid back as extra milk or water so the dough is not stiff.
- Teacup and pintA teacup in recipes of this period is usually reckoned at about 3/4 cup (6 fl oz), though the measure varied from book to book. Three pints of flour, measured by volume as they did, is roughly 6 cups, about 26 oz -- expect to adjust, since flour packs differently.
- Sweet milkFresh unsoured milk, as opposed to the buttermilk or clabber also kept in the house. Whole milk is the right substitute; warm it to lukewarm before mixing so the yeast is not chilled.
- No salt is listedAn omission common in contributed recipes of the period, where salt was assumed. Add about 2 teaspoons for this quantity of flour or the rolls will taste flat.
- Two risingsAllow about 1 to 1 1/2 hours for the first rise until doubled, then the beating and shaping, then 45 minutes to an hour for the shaped rolls. Kitchens were cooler and slower than ours; judge by the dough, not the clock.
- Bake quicklyThe recipe says only "bake quickly," which points to a hot oven; period conversion tables put a "quick oven" at roughly 425-450F. At 425F, rolls of ordinary size take 12 to 15 minutes and should be deep gold with a hollow sound when tapped underneath.
- YieldRoughly 24 to 30 rolls, depending on size. They are at their best within a few hours of baking and stale fast, having no sugar or preservative to hold them.
Housekeeping in Old Virginia (1878), compiled by Marion Cabell Tyree, gathered recipes credited on its title page to some 250 ladies of Virginia and her sister states, and printed them with the contributor's name or initials attached, which is why this one arrives signed "Mrs. Dr. S." The name appears to refer to texture rather than any ingredient: "velvet" rolls can plausibly be grouped with a family of Southern beaten doughs, the best known being beaten biscuit, in which dough was pounded or beaten at length to build structure in an era before reliable commercial yeast. The teacup of yeast points to the same period conditions -- a cook might keep a liquid yeast going from potatoes, hops or a saved portion of dough, and its strength varied from house to house, which is one reason recipes of this kind tell you to watch the dough blister rather than to count minutes.