Paul Richards' book of breads, cakes, pastries, ices and sweetmeats

Some bakers use corn-flour dry; others, cornmeal mush; some add malt extracts or glucose; others again, sugar and lard only, in this bread. Malt extracts improve the flavor of the bread; it is used in proportion of one and one-half ounces to one gallon of liquid. The breads are mostly made with a short straight dough. 915-A.^CHICAGO QUAKER BREAD. Take one pail of ferment (ten quarts) ; or, take one pail of water and five ounces of compressed yeast, eight ounces of sugar, or eight ounces of glucose, two pounds of cornmeal mush, six ounces of salt, and eight ounces of lard. Before doughing, dissolve the yeast in one pint of warm water, add the glucose and some flour to make a soft batter. Let this stand in a warm place for twenty minutes. [This process is to strengthen the yeast and to secure a lively fermentation. It may be used also in other doughs.] Add the water at 80 degrees Fahr., and make io6 PAUL RICHARDS' BOOK OF BREADS, CAKBS, PASTRIES, a smooth dough with the other ingredients. Let rest for four hours and work over; let rise again about half and make into loaves. Bake in double square pans, give medium proof and bake in good heat. 916.— MOTHER'S BREAD. 1 pail water, 1 lb. sugar, 1 lb. lard, 5 ozs. yeast, 6 ozs. salt. Make a straight dough and bake in doublesquare loaves, like the Quaker Bread No. 915. Part milk may be used in this recipe. 917.— MALT BREAD. Take recipe No. 916, leave out the sugar, and add six ounces of malt extract and one pound of dry corn-flour, or two pounds of cornmeal mush. Make a straight dough at 75 to 80 degrees Pahr. Take the dough young; give only good half proof in baking, and bake in steam. 918.— POTATO BREAD. % peck potatoes, 5 quarts milk, 5 quarts water, 4 ozs. yeast, 8 ozs. sugar, 8 ozs. salt, 8 ozs. lard. Set a slack sponge with the water, yeast, and a strong flour. Boil, peel and mash the potatoes. When the sponge is ready, thin up the potatoes with the milk and pass them through a sieve onto the sponge, add the other ingredients and make a medium firm dough. Let come up and work over; give a start and then mold in loaves. Give only medium proof, and bake as usual. This bread is also made as a hearth-baked bread in the following manner: When the dough is ready to mold, scale and mold round; flatten the loaves some and set in boxes dusted with flour, smooth side up, a little distance apart, so they do not touch in proving; dust some flour on top of the loaves, cover and give three-quarter proof. Bake on the hearth without washing. 919.— ENGLISH COTTAGE BREAD. NEW YOEK HIGH-ROUND BEEAD. IRISH SPLIT LOAVES. 1 gallon ferment, 1 gallon water, 6 ozs. salt, 6 ozs. sugar, 6 ozs. lard. Set sponge with the ferment ; take the sponge when ready, add water and other ingredients and make a firm dough. Let come up and work over, scale in eight-ounce pieces and mold round on the bench; then mold over again and press two pieces together on top of ea«h other; dust with flour and set two by two in long narrow cloth-lined boxes, pinch up the cloth between each two and let prove. The oven is lined on the sides with wood. The bread is put in, two loaves at one time, close together in square shape. This requires prac- ICES AND SWEETMEATS. tice and dexterity. When the loaves are all in the oven, other pieces of wood are put in front of it to keep it in shape till baked. Split loaves are made from the same dough, named IRISH SPLIT. They are first molded in, the shape of pan loaves ; then pressed along the centre, like the Prench split; set to prove, split side down, between cloths. The loaves are baked like the Cottage loaves, ends and sides touching each other. 920.— CHICAGO IRISH BREAD.