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White Bread (Quick Method)
2 cakes yeast 1 qt. lukewarm water 2 tablespoons sugar 2 tablespoons melted shortening 3 qts. flour 1 tablespoon salt Dissolve yeast and sugar in lukewarm water, add shortening and one--half of the flour. Beat until smooth, then add the salt and the balance of the flour, or enough to make dough of consistency to be handled. Knead until smooth and elastic. Place in greased bowl, cover and set aside in a moderately warm place, free from draught until light--about one and one--half hours. Knead again and mold into loaves. Place in well greased bread pan, filling them one--half full. Cover and let rise one hour, or until double in bulk. Bake 45 to 60 minutes, in moderately hot oven. It a richer loaf is desired, use milk in place of part or all of the water. This recipe makes three large loaves. The best bread makers use quick methods. One cake of yeast will suffice, but two cakes produce quicker, stronger fermentation, and better bread.
A straight-dough white bread scaled for a household baking day: three large loaves from a single mix. The measurements are all by volume, which is where most of the guesswork lies.
- Yeast cakesA cake of yeast here is compressed fresh yeast. Cake sizes varied; if it is the common small household cake of about 0.6 oz, two cakes is roughly 1 1/4 oz fresh, usually equated with about 4 1/2 teaspoons of active dry yeast, and the one-cake version noted at the end with about 2 1/4 teaspoons dry.
- Flour by weight3 quarts of flour is about 12 cups, or roughly 3 lb 5 oz (1.5 kg) of all-purpose. Treat it as a target rather than a rule, exactly as the recipe does when it says "or enough to make dough of consistency to be handled."
- Oven temperature'Moderately hot' in books of this period is usually taken as somewhere around 375-400F. At that heat a large loaf may well be done nearer 40 to 45 minutes than 60; a reliable test is an internal temperature of 195-200F and a hollow sound when the bottom is tapped.
- Lukewarm waterLukewarm meant blood heat, about 100F. Modern dry yeast tolerates 105-110F, but anything above roughly 120F will begin killing it.
- Pan size and fillFilling pans half full and letting the dough double gives a loaf that rises above the rim. Three 9x5 in pans suit this quantity; with smaller pans, divide the dough further so each is still only half full.
- If you use milkWhole milk in place of some or all of the water gives a softer crumb and a browner crust. Pasteurized milk needs no scalding today, but bring it only to lukewarm before mixing.
- Rising timesAn hour and a half for the first rise assumes a kitchen around 75F. A cooler room can easily double that, and the visual cue -- light, doubled, holding a dent when pressed -- matters more than the clock.