Mary at the Farm and Book of Recipes Compiled during Her Visit Part 23

The dough should be almost as stiff as ordinary bread dough. Set to rise about one hour. Then divide the dough and mold into two shapely loaves. Place in oblong bread pans. Let rise about 1-1/2 hours. Brush melted b.u.t.ter over top of loaves and bake in a moderately hot oven, as one would bake ordinary bread.

This bread is a rich, golden yellow, with a distinctive, rather bitter, saffron flavor, well-liked by some people; saffron is not unwholesome.

"Speaking of saffron bread," said John Landis, to his niece, Mary, "I am reminded of the lines I was taught when quite a small boy:"

"Wer will gute kuchen haben, der muss sieben sachen haben; Eier, b.u.t.ter un schmalz, milch, zucker un mehl; Un saffron mach die kuchen gehl."

"Of course, Mary, you do not understand what that means. I will translate it for you. 'Who would have good cakes, he must have seven things--eggs, b.u.t.ter and lard, milk, sugar and flour, and saffron makes the cakes yellow.'"

RAISED ROLLS

2 quarts of sifted flour.

1 pint of boiled milk (lukewarm).

1 tablespoon sugar.

1/2 cup b.u.t.ter and lard, mixed.

3/4 cake compressed yeast, or 3/4 cup yeast.

1 teaspoon salt.

At 5 o'clock P.M. set sponge with half or three-fourths of the flour and all the other ingredients.

About 9 o'clock in the evening, knead well, adding the balance of the flour. Cover and let stand in a warm place until morning. In the morning, roll out about 3/4 of an inch thick, cut into small rolls, place in baking pans far enough apart so they will not touch, and when raised quite light, bake.

Or, take the same ingredients as above (with one exception; take one whole cake of compressed yeast), dissolved in half a cup of luke-warm water, and flour enough to make a thin batter. Do this at 8.30 in the morning and let rise until 1 o'clock; then knead enough flour in to make a soft dough, as soft as can be handled. Stand in a warm place until 4.30, roll out quite thin; cut with small, round cake-cutter and fold over like a pocketbook, putting a small piece of b.u.t.ter the size of a pea between the folds; set in a warm place until 5.30, or until very light; then bake a delicate brown in a hot oven. If made quite small, 70 rolls may be made from this dough.

To cause rolls of any kind to have a rich, brown glaze, when baked, before placing the pan containing them in the oven, brush over the top of each roll the following mixture, composed of--yolk of 1 egg, 1 tablespoon of milk, and 1 teaspoon of sugar.

"GRANDMOTHER'S" FINE RAISED BISCUITS

1 quart scalded milk (lukewarm).

3/4 cup of b.u.t.ter, or a mixture of b.u.t.ter and lard.

1/2 cup of sugar.

1 teaspoonful of salt.

2 Fleischman's yeast cakes.

Whites of 2 eggs.

Flour.

Quite early in the morning dissolve the two yeast cakes in a little of the milk; add these, with one-half the quant.i.ty of sugar and salt in the recipe, to the remainder of the quart of milk; add also 4 cups of flour to form the yeast foam. Beat well and stand in a warm place, closely-covered, one hour, until light and foamy.

Beat the sugar remaining and the b.u.t.ter to a cream; add to the yeast foam about 7 to 8 cups of flour, and the stiffly-beaten whites of the two eggs.

Turn out on a well-floured bread board and knead about five minutes.

Place in a bowl and let rise again (about one hour or longer) until double in bulk, when roll out about one inch in thickness. Cut small biscuits with a 1/2 pound Royal Baking Powder can.

Brush tops of biscuits with a mixture consisting of yolk of one egg, a teaspoonful of sugar and a little milk; this causes the biscuits to have a rich brown crust when baked.

Place biscuits on pans a short distance apart, let rise until doubled in bulk; bake in a rather quick oven.

From this recipe was usually made 55 biscuits. One-half of this recipe would be sufficient for a small family.

Mary's Aunt taught her the possibilities of what she called a "Dutch"

sponge--prepared from one Fleischman's yeast cake. And the variety a capable housewife may give her family, with the expenditure of a small amount of time and thought.

About 9 o'clock in the evening Mary's Aunt placed in a bowl 2 cups of potato water (drained from potatoes boiled for dinner). In this she dissolved one Fleischman's yeast cake, stirred into this about 3 cups of well-warmed flour, beat thoroughly for about ten minutes. Allowed this to stand closely covered in a warm place over night. On the following morning she added to the foamy sponge 1-1/2 cups lukewarm, scalded milk, in which had been dissolved 1 tablespoonful of a mixture of b.u.t.ter and lard, 2 generous tablespoonfuls of sugar and 1 teaspoonful of salt. About 6-1/4 cups of well-dried and warmed flour; she stirred in a part of the flour, then added the balance. Kneaded well a short time, then set to raise closely covered in a warm place 2-1/2 to 3 hours.

When dough was light it was kneaded down in bowl and allowed to stand about one hour, and when well risen she placed 2 cups of light bread sponge in a bowl, and stood aside in warm place; this later formed the basis of a "Farmers' Pound Cake," the recipe for which may be found among recipes for "Raised Cakes."

From the balance of dough, or sponge, after being cut into 3 portions, she molded from the one portion 12 small turn-over rolls, which were brushed with melted b.u.t.ter, folded together and placed on tins a distance apart and when _very_ light baked in a quick oven.

From another portion of the sponge was made a twist or braided loaf.

And to the remaining portion of dough was added 1/2 cup of currants or raisins, and this was called a "Currant" or "Raisin Loaf," which she served for dinner the following day.

The rolls were placed in the oven of the range a few minutes before breakfast and served hot, broken apart and eaten with maple syrup or honey and the delicious "Farmers' Pound Cake" was served for supper.

Aunt Sarah baked these on ironing day. The kitchen being unusually warm, as a result of the extra heat required in the range for heating flatirons, caused the dough to rise more quickly than otherwise would have been the case.

STIRRED BREAD

Frau Schmidt thought bread more easily digested and wholesome if ingredients of a loaf be stirred together instead of kneaded. This is the method she taught Mary. She poured into a bowl 3 cups of luke-warm water, added 1 cake of Fleischman's yeast, dissolved in a little of the water; sifted in gradually about 8-1/2 cups of flour, added 1 tablespoonful of sugar, 1/2 teaspoonful of salt, mixed all well together with a spoon until a stiff dough was formed, which she molded into two shapely loaves, handling as little as possible; placed in bread pans, allowed to stand several hours to raise, and when light baked. Mary said, "This bread may be more wholesome than old-fas.h.i.+oned bread, which has been kneaded, but I prefer Aunt Sarah's bread, well-kneaded, fine-grained and sweet," but, she continued, "I will make an exception in favor of Aunt Sarah's 'Stirred Oatmeal' bread, which, I think, fine."

POTATO BISCUITS

At 6 o'clock in the morning place in a bowl 1 cup of finely-mashed (boiled) potatoes (the cup of left-over mashed potatoes may be used as a matter of economy). Add 1 cup of potato water (the water drained from boiled potatoes), in which 1/2 cake of Fleischman's yeast had been dissolved, add 1 cup of flour and 1 teaspoon of sugar. Stand in a warm place to raise, from 1 to 1-1/4 hours. At the expiration of that time add to the foamy sponge 1 large tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter or lard, 1 egg and 1/2 teaspoonful of salt, beaten together before adding. Add about 2 cups of flour, beat thoroughly and allow to raise another hour; then roll out the dough about 1 inch in thickness and cut into small biscuits, dip each one in melted b.u.t.ter and place on pans, a short distance apart, stand about one hour to raise, when bake in a rather hot oven. These Potato Biscuits are particularly nice when freshly baked, and resemble somewhat biscuits made from baking powder.

From this recipe was made two dozen biscuits.

AUNT SARAH'S POTATO YEAST

9 medium-sized potatoes.

5 tablespoons sugar.

2 tablespoons salt.

1 quart water.

Grate the raw potatoes quickly, so they will not discolor, pour over the grated potato the quart of boiling water, add salt and sugar, cook several minutes until the consistency of boiled starch, let cool, and when lukewarm add 1 cup of good yeast. Stir all together in a crock, cover and let stand in a warm place three or four hours, when it is foamy and rises to top of crock, stir down several times, then fill gla.s.s fruit jars, cover and stand away in a cool place until needed.

This yeast will keep about ten days. Use one cup to about three pounds of flour, or one quart of liquid, when setting sponge for bread. Save one cup of this yeast to start fresh yeast with.

PERFECTION POTATO CAKES

1 cup of boiled mashed potatoes.

1 cup sweet milk.

1 cup water in which 1 Fleischman yeast cake was dissolved.

2 cups soft A sugar.

1/2 cup b.u.t.ter and lard mixed.