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Bread

Compressed Yeast Bread

A simple yeast bread made with compressed yeast, flour, water, and salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Compressed Yeast Bread

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Make the sponge

  1. Dissolve the yeast in 1 pint of lukewarm water.

  2. Stir in enough flour to make a thick batter.

  3. Cover the bowl with a thick cloth.

  4. Set the bowl in a warm place to rise for about 30 minutes until foamy.

Make the dough

  1. Stir in the salt dissolved in a little warm water.

  2. Add the remaining flour.

  3. Add enough warm water to make a stiff dough.

  4. Knead the dough for 5 to 10 minutes.

Shape and bake

  1. Divide the dough into loaves.

  2. Knead each loaf again.

  3. Place the loaves in buttered baking tins.

  4. Cover with a thick cloth.

  5. Let the loaves rise until doubled in size.

  6. Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) until golden brown.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Compressed yeast
Ferments the dough, producing gas that makes the loaves rise and become light.
Flour
Forms the gluten structure that traps gas and gives the baked loaves their body.
Warm water
Hydrates the flour and activates the yeast, forming the dough.
Salt
Controls yeast activity and strengthens the gluten for a better crumb.

The step that matters

Let the loaves rise until doubled in size. Under-proofed loaves stay dense, while over-proofed ones can collapse in the oven. The dough is ready when it has roughly doubled, as gas from the yeast has expanded the gluten network.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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