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CHAPTER XXI.
BREAD, CAKES, BISCUITS, ROLLS, AND MUFFINS.
Almost every county has its peculiar fashion of making bread: and almost every hand differs in the practice. The receipt here given is the one followed by most persons in Hampshire; and I select it, being the one I am most familiar with, and not because that county is famed for excellence in bread; for much depends upon the goodness of the flour, and some other parts of England excel Hampshire in this respect.
Good bread is so essential, that no pains ought to be spared to procure it. For this purpose the flour ought to be well prepared, and kept in a dry place. Some persons like brown bread, but it is not, in general, so wholesome as that which is all white. Six pounds of rye flour, to a peck of wheaten flour, makes very good bread.
The advantages of making bread at home, in preference to buying it at the baker's, are stated in Cobbett's "Cottage Economy"; and I refer my readers to that little work, to convince them that they will benefit greatly by following the advice there given on this subject.
Small beer yeast is the best for making bread, as ale, or strong beer yeast, is generally too bitter.
To take the Bitter from Yeast.—Put the yeast to the water you use to mix the "batter," or as the country people call it, "set the sponge," and stir into it 2 or 3 good handfuls of bran; pour it through a sieve or jelly bag (kept for the purpose), and then mix it into the flour. The bran not only corrects the bitterness of the yeast, but communicates a sweetness to the bread.—Or: put into the yeast 2 or 3 pieces of wood coal, stir them about, pour the water in, and then strain it.
