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Books by Amy L. Handy

PUBLISHED BY HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY

WAR-TIME BREADS AND CAKES.

WAR FOOD. Practical and Economical Methods of Keeping Vegetables, Fruits, and Meats.

WAR-TIME BREADS AND CAKES

WAR-TIME BREADS AND CAKES

BY AMY L. HANDY _Author of_ WAR FOOD

BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY The Riverside Press Cambridge 1918

COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY AMY L. HANDY

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

_Published March 1918_

FOREWORD

For the last twenty years the housewives of our country have been more and more depending upon the bakers for the bread used in the homes. In some of our cities the home-baked loaf is hardly known.

Although the commercial bread has been of great variety and of excellent quality, it has never been an economical method of serving the family with the staff of life.

By depending upon ready-baked bread we have come to consider it a difficult process to make good yeast bread and almost a hardship to try to have home-made bread.

I had fallen into the habit of buying my bread; my family was so small that it hardly seemed necessary to insist that bread should be made in my kitchen when good bread could be bought at a reasonable price. The result was that when the call came to conserve the wheat, I resorted almost entirely to quick breads made with baking powder or with sour milk and soda. However, the experiments that I made with these materials proved so interesting and satisfactory that I decided to see what I could do with a yeast cake and other grains than wheat.

My first experiments were failures and I was discouraged because, instead of saving food, I was wasting it, and yet I was unwilling to acknowledge myself defeated by the little square of leaven that came to me so attractively done up in tinfoil.

After careful consideration I decided that I had rushed into undue intimacy with a force of which I had very little understanding and that I might do better if I cultivated the acquaintance by degrees.

My next experiments were made with a very simple sponge of whole wheat flour, water, and yeast, which I allowed to rise for about four hours. I divided it into four parts, and to one I added scalded corn meal and rye flour; to the second, raw corn meal and whole wheat flour; to the third, barley flour and rye; and to the fourth, rice flour. I put salt in each lot, but no sugar or shortening. As I worked I kept a paper and pencil beside me and made careful notes of everything I did, also of results that I expected and of any doubts that occurred to me as to the wisdom of what I was doing. The four little loaves that resulted taught me many things and were the beginning of experiments that lasted through the summer--experiments that any housekeeper could make, for I had no laboratory, only the kitchen of my country house and the utensils found in every house.

In giving the results of my summer’s work I have tried to make the recipes so simple and yet explicit that the most inexperienced cook can follow them.

AMY LITTLEFIELD HANDY

_Barnstable, Massachusetts_

CONTENTS

YEASTS 1

SUGGESTIONS FOR THE MAKING OF BREAD WITHOUT WHITE FLOUR 6

SPONGES 9

BREADS AND BISCUITS MADE WITH YEAST 15

STRAIGHT DOUGH BREADS 23

BREADS AND BISCUITS MADE WITHOUT YEAST 41

PANCAKES 56

CAKES AND GINGERBREADS 63

WAR-TIME BREADS AND CAKES

YEASTS

_Buttermilk Dry Yeast_

Put one quart of buttermilk in a double boiler, and when it is scalding hot add one and one half quarts of corn meal and one teaspoonful of salt, and stir well. Let this mush cool, and then add one yeast cake that has been dissolved in one half cup of lukewarm water. Set the mixture in a warm place, and when it rises stir it down and let it rise again. Repeat this process three times, and then add more corn meal and enough whole wheat flour to bind it so that it can be made into cakes. Use a rounding tablespoonful to each cake if they are to be used in winter, less if for summer use. Let them dry as quickly as possible, but do not put them in the oven or in the sun. A rack hung high over the stove is a good place to dry them. They should have a sour, but not disagreeable, smell. These will keep all summer on a dry pantry shelf.

_Potato and Hop Dry Yeast_

Boil together four small potatoes and one half cup, packed, of dry hops, using three pints of water. When the potatoes are done, take them out and put through a sieve or ricer. Add two cups of whole wheat flour and mix well. Strain the boiling hop water over this mixture and beat till it is a smooth batter. Add one tablespoonful of salt and the same of ginger and one half cup of sugar. When lukewarm, add one yeast cake that has been dissolved in one cup of lukewarm water. Let this stand one or two days, the time depending upon the temperature of the room, stirring it down occasionally. When it smells good and sour, add corn meal till it is thick enough to handle. Make into cakes, using a rounded tablespoonful if they are to be used in winter and less for summer use. Dry quickly, but do not put in the oven or in the sun. It will take a few days before they are dry enough to put away. These will keep in a box on a dry pantry shelf winter or summer.

One cake is equal to a cake of compressed yeast.

_Continental Dry Yeast_

When putting the bread in pans save out a pint of the dough. Roll this half an inch thick, put it on plates, and leave it on the pantry shelf, turning it occasionally. It will become quite sour as it dries. After a few days the drying may be hastened, but do not overheat it or the yeast plant will be killed. When dry, break it into convenient pieces and put in a box or jar. To use, break into small pieces, enough to half fill a cup and soak till soft in lukewarm water. Use like any yeast. I have had satisfactory results using this yeast for raising a sponge.

_Liquid Yeast_

This will keep one or two weeks in summer and five or six in winter if not allowed to freeze. Scalding or freezing kills the yeast plant.

Add one cup of dry hops to two quarts of boiling water and boil gently for fifteen minutes. In the meantime peel and grate five large potatoes into enough water to cover them; this is to prevent them from turning dark. Add one cup of sugar, one tablespoonful of salt, and the same of ginger. Put this mixture into a saucepan and pour over it the water in which the hops have boiled. Cook, stirring all the time till it thickens, turn into a perfectly clean crock or jar, and when lukewarm add two cups of good yeast or two yeast cakes that have been dissolved in two cups of lukewarm water. Keep the jar where it is moderately warm and stir the yeast down as often as it rises. When fermentation stops, it will be quite thin. It should then be covered closely and put in a cool place. It is good as long as it smells sour but does not taste so. When yeast loses its smell it has no more rising power; in other words, the yeast plant is dead.

One half cup of this yeast is equal to one cake of compressed yeast.

The potatoes may be boiled and mashed through a sieve, but practical bread-makers say that the grated potatoes make the best yeast.

SUGGESTIONS FOR THE MAKING OF BREAD WITHOUT WHITE FLOUR

Breads made with little or no wheat to be successful must be treated in a different way from white flour breads. If there is cooked cereal in the dough it must be made much stiffer than for ordinary bread. All dark breads must be well risen in the dough, but must not rise to double their bulk after putting in the pans; only to half double. The oven should not be as hot as for white bread; it should be at a temperature so that a small loaf will not be overdone in an hour and a quarter.

When possible use milk, or at least part milk, for the liquid in making the sponge; the dough will use less flour and require less kneading and the bread will have greater food value. The milk must be scalded and cooled or it may sour as the dough rises. If corn meal is to be scalded with the milk, it is better to stir the meal into the milk when it is in the saucepan on the stove rather than to pour the hot milk over the meal.

Don’t make the mistake of having the dark loaf sweet. One tires very soon of a sweet bread as the staff of life.

In using recipes for these new breads it is necessary to remember that at the present time there is no standard for these meals and flours that we are using. There are many good kinds on the market that differ in the amount of liquid that they will take up.

In none of the recipes calling for whole wheat flour do I refer to flour with bran in it. Whole wheat, rye, oat, barley, and rice flour should be fine enough to go through a fine flour sieve; otherwise they should be called meals.

Corn flour and the very fine bolted meal are as fine as the whole wheat flour and cannot be used for the recipes calling for corn meal. The coarser bolted meal can be treated as the fine granulated meal.

In making yeast bread always have the liquid lukewarm, and in cold weather it facilitates matters to warm the flour.

Never let sponge or dough get chilled until it has risen once; after that it can be put in the ice box to check fermentation till it is needed to make into rolls or coffee bread.

Thick stoneware is the best material for a mixing-bowl for yeast bread, but it is heavy to handle. If the sponge or dough is set to rise in a tin dish it should be well wrapped in a thick cloth to keep the dough at an even temperature. Both sponge and dough will stand a good deal of hard treatment, but the bread-making will be slow and the result poor.

A bread-mixer is a great labor-saver, but there should be a thick cloth cover to be used with it.

The rising of dough may be hastened by setting the dish in a pan of warm water and adding more from time to time to keep up the temperature.

SPONGES

All foreign bakers use the sponge method for their best breads and rolls and refer to that made from the straight dough as “off-hand bread.”

They reasonably claim that it has many advantages; that the bread made from a sponge has a better flavor, requires less shortening and less yeast, keeps moist longer, and is more velvety in texture.

It is a more convenient method, for although the sponge will rise in four hours it can stand longer than the straight dough without deterioration, and many kinds of bread, coffee cake, and rolls can be made from one sponge.

All dark breads have a more attractive color if one tablespoonful of dark molasses is added to the sponge, but this hastens the rising; so, if the sponge is to stand overnight, do not add it till morning when the bread is mixed.

Salt retards the rising, so it is better in cold weather to add that when the bread is made up.

_Whole Wheat Sponge_

Scald three cups of milk and let it stand till it is lukewarm. Add one teaspoonful of salt and one tablespoonful of molasses and one yeast cake that has been dissolved in one half cup of warm water. Stir in enough whole wheat flour to make a drop batter. Beat well and put it in a covered dish to rise. Use as directed in the bread recipes. Water can be used in place of milk.

_Potato Sponge_

Mash or put through a ricer enough hot boiled potatoes to make two cupfuls. Add two cups of whole wheat flour and mix well. Pour over this two cups of the water in which the potatoes were boiled; this should be hot enough to thoroughly scald the mixture. Add one tablespoonful of molasses and two teaspoonfuls of salt. Stir till it is a smooth batter. If this is to be made into a sponge at once, add one cup of cold water, and when the batter is lukewarm add one yeast cake that has been dissolved in one cup of lukewarm water. Set it to rise four hours.

The potato and flour mixture may be made and scalded at any time that it is convenient to cook the potatoes and can stand until it is wanted for the sponge. If it has become cold, add one cup of water hot enough to make the mixture lukewarm and proceed as directed with the yeast.

_Corn Meal Sponge_

Boil four medium-sized potatoes in one quart of water. When done pour three cups of the boiling potato water over one and one half cups of corn meal and stir till it is smooth. Add one and one half cups of the potato that has been mashed or put through a ricer, one tablespoonful of salt, and one of molasses. When this is lukewarm, add one yeast cake that has been dissolved in one cup of lukewarm water. Set it to rise and use as directed in the recipes for sponge bread.

_Oat Flour Sponge_

Take one and one half cups of hot mashed potato, two cups of sifted oat flour, mix well, and scald with two cups of the boiling water in which the potatoes were cooked. Add one tablespoonful of molasses and one of salt. When cool, add one yeast cake that has been dissolved in one cup of lukewarm water.

_Oatmeal Sponge_

Pour two cups of boiling water over two cups of rolled oats and let it stand covered for two hours. Add two cups of whole wheat flour and one cup of water hot enough to make the mixture lukewarm. Stir well and add one tablespoonful of salt and the same of molasses. Add one yeast cake dissolved in one cup of lukewarm water and set to rise.

_Four Varieties of Bread from one Potato Sponge_

When the potato sponge is light and foamy, put one third of it aside. To the other two thirds add enough whole wheat flour to make a soft dough, but one that can be handled. Knead till it is smooth and velvety. Set it to rise. When it has doubled its bulk knead a little and divide it in two. Make a loaf of one part, and when it has half doubled its bulk bake in a moderate oven for an hour.

Roll the remaining dough into a strip half an inch thick. Spread with brown or white sugar, using a half cupful. Sprinkle one teaspoonful of cinnamon over the sugar and lay on a few raisins. Roll up carefully and put into a bread pan to rise till it has half doubled its bulk. Bake in a moderate oven. If the sheet of dough is kept as wide as the bread pan is long, this will fit in and when it is cut the spiral of sugar and cinnamon will show to perfection.

To the remaining sponge add rye flour till it is stiff enough to handle, rather a stiff dough. Set it to rise, and when doubled its bulk make all but one and one half cups of the dough into a small loaf and let it rise till it has half doubled its bulk. Bake an hour in a moderate oven.

To make coffee cake from the remaining dough, first cream together one tablespoonful of shortening with two tablespoonfuls of sugar. Cut this into the dough with a knife and beat till it is smooth. Add one well-beaten egg and beat to a smooth batter. Spread in a cake pan and let it stand twenty minutes. Pour over it a mixture of two tablespoonfuls of sugar, one teaspoonful of cinnamon, and two tablespoonfuls of cream. Sprinkle a little flour or cake crumbs over it and bake in a hotter oven than for bread.

Maple sugar pounded till fine can be used and makes a delicious cake.

BREADS AND BISCUITS MADE WITH YEAST

_Whole Wheat Bread_

To any one of the sponges after they have risen, add enough whole wheat flour to make a dough that can be kneaded. Set it to rise in a warm place protected from draughts. When risen to double its bulk turn out on a bread board and work only enough to form into loaves. Let these rise to half double their bulk and bake for an hour in a moderate oven. If the loaves are large they should bake longer.

The oat flour sponge is especially good.

_Graham Bread_

To any of the sponges add four cups of graham meal and finish with whole wheat flour. If a coarser bread is desired, add one cup of bran and only three cups of the meal.

_Whole Wheat and Apple Sauce Bread_

To two cups of whole wheat sponge add one cup of apple sauce that has been sweetened and enough whole wheat flour to make a stiff dough. Proceed as for whole wheat bread.

A cup of sifted squash may be used in place of the apple sauce or one cup of beans that have been put through a sieve, in fact almost any vegetable can be used in this proportion.

_Nut and Fruit Loaf_

To two cups of any sponge add two cups of graham meal, one cup of chopped or broken nuts, and one dozen dates sliced. Add enough whole wheat flour so that it can be handled. Let it rise to double its bulk and then form into a loaf, let it rise, and bake.

_Nut Loaf_

Take enough of any risen bread dough to make a loaf. Roll it into a sheet half an inch thick. Scatter chopped nuts over it and roll up and put in the pan to rise. This distributes the nuts evenly and makes a very attractive slice with the curling line of nuts.

_Rye Flour Bread_

To either the potato or the whole wheat sponge add enough sifted rye flour to make a dough that can be handled. Turn out on to the board and knead well, using whole wheat flour to keep it from sticking. When smooth and velvety set it to rise till it has doubled its bulk. Form into loaves, and when half doubled its bulk bake in a moderate oven for an hour and a half.

_Rye Meal Bread_

This is made like rye flour bread, only first adding four cups of rye meal to the sponge and finishing with rye flour.

_Rye and Corn Meal Bread_

To the corn meal sponge add a second tablespoonful of molasses and enough rye flour to make a very stiff dough. Knead well, using whole wheat flour to keep it from sticking to the board. It will take nearly two cups, for the combination of rye and corn meal makes a very sticky dough, and the bread will be sticky unless the dough is kneaded till very stiff. Set it to rise till it has doubled its bulk, and then form into loaves. Let these rise till they have a little more than half doubled their bulk, and bake in a moderate oven one and one half hours.

If the oven is too hot and the crust is hard, wrap the loaf in a wet cloth and over that a dry one.

For the wheatless days use rye flour to knead instead of the whole wheat.

_Raised Cinnamon Roll_

When making the corn and rye bread, take half the dough, enough to make one loaf, roll it out half an inch thick, spread half a cup or more raisins over it, one teaspoonful of cinnamon and two tablespoonfuls of sugar. Roll up and put in a bread pan to rise. Bake in a moderate oven.

_Rye and Squash Bread_

This makes a very palatable combination.

To the whole wheat sponge add a second tablespoonful of molasses and one and one half cups of sifted squash or pumpkin. Mix well and add enough rye flour to make a stiff dough. Continue as directed for rye flour bread.

_Cooked Oatmeal Bread_

To the whole wheat sponge add two cups of cooked oatmeal, cold or warm, and mix till smooth. Add whole wheat flour to make a stiff dough, set to rise, and bake as directed for corn and rye bread. Any cooked cereal may be used in this way.

_Oatmeal Bread_ (_1_)

Pour two cups of boiling water over two cups of rolled oats. Do this at night, and in the morning add them to the whole wheat sponge. Add whole wheat flour to make a stiff dough, and proceed as with whole wheat bread.

_Oatmeal Bread_ (_2_)

To two cups of whole wheat add one and one half cups of extra fine oatmeal, fine enough to go through a flour sieve. Use enough whole wheat flour to make a moderately stiff dough, one that can be kneaded, and proceed as with whole wheat bread.

_Rice Flour Bread_

Add to the potato sponge enough rice flour to make a dough that can be handled, but not too stiff. Knead, using whole wheat flour to keep it from sticking to the board. Proceed as for whole wheat bread.

_Rice Flour Bread_ (_one loaf_)

Use one half the whole wheat sponge. Use the other half for a loaf of rye bread.

_Cooked Rice Bread_ (_1_)

Add two cups of cooked rice to the whole wheat sponge. Mix well. Add whole wheat flour to make a stiff dough, and proceed as for whole wheat bread.

_Cooked Rice Bread_ (_2_)

When the potato sponge has risen well add one quart of cooked rice, one teaspoonful of salt, and enough whole wheat flour to make a very stiff dough. Work well, and let it rise to double its bulk. Make into loaves, and when it has half doubled its bulk, bake.

_English Rice Muffins_

Take out a pint of dough from the rice bread made from potato sponge before the whole amount of flour is added, while the dough is very soft. Add one tablespoonful of shortening and let it rise. Put it on the ice till ready to use, and then bake on the griddle as directed for rye crumpets.

_Sweet Potato Bread_

Add two cups of boiled and mashed sweet potato to the whole wheat sponge and whole wheat flour to make a dough. Proceed as for whole wheat bread.

_Quick Whole Wheat Bread_

Begin early in the morning. Scald one and one half pints of milk or part milk and part water. When lukewarm add two level teaspoonfuls of salt, one tablespoonful of molasses, and one yeast cake that has been dissolved in one half cup of lukewarm water. Stir in enough whole wheat flour to make a drop batter and beat well. Cover and set the dish in a pan of warm water in a warm place to rise. As the water cools add more warm to keep the batter rising. This should be light and spongy in half or three quarters of an hour. Now add enough whole wheat flour to make a dough, turn out on the board, and knead well till it is elastic and velvety. Return to the bowl and cover it and set it in the dish of warm water again. When it has doubled its bulk, turn it on the board and divide it for two loaves. Put it in pans and brush the tops with milk or water. When it has half doubled its bulk, bake in a moderate oven for an hour.

STRAIGHT DOUGH BREADS

_Potato Bread_

Peel four medium-sized potatoes and boil in just enough water to cover them. Mash them through a sieve and mix them with the water in which they were cooked. Add enough scalded milk to make a quart of liquid, two teaspoonfuls of salt, one tablespoonful of molasses, and one of shortening. When lukewarm, add one yeast cake that has been dissolved in half a cup of warm water, three cups of graham meal, and enough whole wheat flour to make a dough that can be kneaded. Knead till it is elastic and set it to rise. Let it double its bulk and then make into two loaves. Let them rise till not quite double their bulk, and bake about an hour in a moderate oven.

_Raised Corn Bread_

To one quart of boiling water add one cup of corn meal, either white or yellow. Let it boil a few minutes, and then pour into the mixing-bowl. Add two teaspoonfuls of salt and one of shortening. When cool, add one yeast cake dissolved in one half cup of warm water and enough whole wheat flour to make a stiff dough. Knead it and set to rise. When light turn on to the bread board and knead again. Make into loaves. Brush the tops with cold water, and let them rise to half double their bulk, and bake in a moderate oven.

_Corn Rolls_

Break off pieces of the dough and work till smooth. Put in a pan and, when well risen, bake. Rolls and biscuit should be allowed to get lighter than bread before they are baked, and the oven should be hotter.

_Corn Meal Mush Bread_

To one quart of hot corn meal mush add two tablespoonfuls of molasses, two teaspoonfuls of salt, two teaspoonfuls of shortening, and one quart of whole wheat flour. When lukewarm, add one pint of risen sponge, one quarter of a teaspoonful of soda, and enough whole wheat flour to make a stiff dough. Let it rise and make into small loaves. Let them rise till they have half doubled their bulk, and bake, in a moderate oven, about one and one quarter hours. Butter the crust and wrap in a cloth to cool.

_Rye and Indian Bread_