2 Yeast cake
1 tb Sugar
1/4 c Warm water
1 c Cold water
1 c Milk; scalded
1 tb Salt
8 c Flour
Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water. When dissolved, add the
cold water to the scalded milk and stir into the yeast mixture. Sift the
salt with the flour and gradually stir this into the milk-yeast mixture.
Knead well on a lightly floured board for about 10 minutes, or until smooth
and elastic. Place in a buttered bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled,
about 1 1/2 hours. Punch down and turn out again onto a lightly floured
board. Knead again for 5 minutes. Now shape the dough into 2 long or
round loaves and place them on buttered cookie sheet that has been
sprinkled with cornmeal. Make gashes in the top with a sharp knife, as for
French Bread. Cover and let rise again until doubled. Brush with
egg-white glaze and bake in a 450F oven for 10 minutes, lower heat to 350F
and bake for 50 minutes longer. Remove from oven, brush again with glaze,
and return to oven for another 30 minutes. It is this long, long baking
that give the bread its distinctive flavor and crisp crust.
[A World of Bread is out of print, but I highly recommend searching for a
copy in the the used book stalls.]
Yields
1 Servings