The Cookery Book of Lady Clark of Tillypronie

A great Victorian hostess's private recipe collection, gathered from the cooks, ambassadors and country houses of a lifetime — never meant for publication, and published after her death exactly as she kept it, attributions and all.

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Baking Powder, Barm and Yeast (Cover and it will be fit)

cover, and it will be fit for use in 6 hours.

The bottle or jar in which the barm is kept must not be corked for some hours, and then only loosely, or the bottle will burst. "Balmoral Yeast."

Boil 2 ozs. of hops in 2 Scotch pts., i.e., 8 English pts., of water, till reduced to half the quantity. Then pour it on 2½ lbs. of flour and stir it well together while hot. Put it into a jar in a warm place; at the expiration of 24 hours stir it again and let it remain 12 hours more, at the end of which time it will be fit for use. If the jar is now kept in a cool place, it will keep a week or 10 days. Directions for use. - Mix a little of the above with warm water and strain it through a sieve, to separate the hops from it. Set the sponge in the usual way. Bitter Yeast (to Cure quickly). No. 1.

Pour it 5 or 6 times through a sieveful of bran, and when it ceases to stick to the bran it will be a sign that all bitterness is gone.

Bitter Yeast (to Cure). No. 2. (Mrs. Thomas, Birk Hall. 1895.) To 1 qt. of yeast allow a gallon of cold water and 2 good handfuls of bran. Put all in some large crock or pan, to remain for 24 hours. At the end of that time pass the water and yeast through a tammy, when the bran will remain behind. The water and yeast which passes through the tammy must stand 24 hours more. Taste the yeast after putting it through the tammy, and, should it still be bitter, throw into the pan a good lump of red-hot (not black) coal to remain with yeast and water all the second 24 hours till you pour off the water, (there is some secret virtue in the coal,) so that, if you have no bran, you may use it and water alone to cure the bitterness. German Yeast. (Lady Clark.) To improve this we always dissolve ¼ lb. of German yeast broken into a 1½ teacupful of warm water, and strain it; add a pinch of powdered sugar and 2 tablespoonfuls of flour - all mixed as in a batter, and set to rise in the meat screen, covered by a cloth; then put it into a hole in the flour, and give one stir round edge and leave it to rise again. It raises the bread better than if merely strained and added. This quantity does for 2 large tin loaves and rolls besides, or a brown loaf instead of the rolls. Ginger Yeast; this is marked "Excellent! C.C." (Mr. Nightingale, Leahurst.) Over 2 ozs. of hops, 2 or 3 ozs. of ground ginger and ¼ peck of fresh malt, pour 2 gallons of water and boil all for 1½ hour, then let it stand for 6 hours. Strain it off, and add flour to make it as thick as cream.

Add ½ pint brewer's yeast to start it. Let it stand all night and bottle it next morning. This will make nice cottage loaves, bread very white, crust very crisp, baked on the oven bottom, as well as buns, rolls and tin bread. The ginger keeps it sweet and good, and the bread rises well and pretty quickly. The breakfast buns made with it rise beautifully. Home-made Yeast. No. 1. (Beechwood.) 1 oz. hops boiled 3 hrs. in 1 gall. of water. Strain, and pour it over 1 qt. of malt. Let all stand 4 or 5 hrs. covered up close. Strain again, and add ½ lb. of flour and 2 tablespoonfuls of common yeast.

Put this all together into a stone jar, and it will be ready for use in 2 days. Half as much again is generally necessary of home-made yeast to raise bread than of brewer's yeast.

Another recipe says: In choosing hops to make home-made yeast, get old yellow-looking ones; for the fresh, which are green, are incurably bitter.

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